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A Practical Study 
of the Soul 



By 

J y 



MARGARET M. BARBOUR STONE 

Author of « One of ■ Berrian's' Novels," 
" The Art of Criticising Fiction," etc. ' 



NEW YORK 

DODD, MEAD & COMPANY 

MDCCCCI 






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THE LIBRARY OF 

CONGRESS. 
Two Coeifcs Rece<v€0 

OCT. 25 1901 

CLASS Ct* Xc " Hz - 

copy a 



By Dodd, Mead & Company 



/*Vj/ £tfrfw« published October, iqoi 



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LI 



DEDICATED 
TO MY DEAR SON, 
COLA E. STONE. 



Preface 



Whatever the extent of the infallibility of the 
Bible, those who interpret its many meanings are 
not infallible, and do not often claim to be. And 
yet, it is upon these finite interpretations that 
humanity mainly depends for its guidance and com- 
prehension of the meanings of life and duty. 

Again, Christ claimed to speak in parables. This 
must imply, if the Bible is to be the only Revelation 
for all time, that each word must contain a message 
suited to every situation and stage of development, 
both of the individual and the race — the most ad- 
vanced as well as the most primitive. If, however, 
the interpreters are not fitted to read these mes- 
sages as fast as needed, it must follow that many 
individuals and situations fail to receive at all, or 
receive what is untrue. 

This fact seems to demand that somewhere there 
should exist some test by which all interpretations 
could be measured; some standard, besides the 
sincerity of the interpreters, by which the reason- 
ableness of their deductions could be gauged. Such 
a standard would of course need to be something 
which man himself had not made. No finite work 
could become the test of the meaning and will of a 



viii PKEFACE 

Divinity. Only the works of the divine Being Him- 
self, could reveal the will of an omniscient and om- 
nipotent Mind. 

The human Soul offers itself as the greatest of the 
works of the only Creator (though often the one 
most flouted and degraded by man). This Soul, and 
the laws which govern it and the material Universe, 
if understood perfectly, must be also revelations of 
a divine Will regarding humanity, in every par- 
ticular. If then these laws could be discovered 
through a close study of the Soul, they would 
establish the constant check upon all finite interpre- 
tations, which is certainly needed. 

While this " Practical Study " was begun for an 
entirely different purpose, the results are offered as 
a fragmentary contribution to this much needed 
search for the laws which govern the Soul. In this 
volume the study is confined to the Soul while still 
connected with the material body, and is made 
through the phenomena which this connection is 
revealing to observing eyes, every moment of ex- 
istence. 

The material obtained in this way forms the 
foundation for many interesting suggestions, to be 
presented later as the past and future of soul life ; 
relating, that is, to such capacities as seem to be 
displayed for living a disembodied existence, if Soul 
has lived and is to live forever. 

The study is taken first hand from Soul itself, not 
from other works upon the subject. For this reason, 
and also because the search is made by one who is a 
mother, the deductions may often differ from those of 



PREFACE ix 

other thinkers. There are some incentives which 
do not come into the lives of men and which would 
drive a mother to much closer and more discrimi- 
nating study — to greater caution in coming to con- 
clusions — than could be aroused by any of the mo- 
tives which usually underlie investigations. 

Such a subject as the Soul must naturally furnish 
inexhaustible sources of information to be gained. 
No one seeker then, could claim to offer more than 
a minute fraction of all that is to be said. But in 
presenting even that fraction, the first consideration, 
in these busy days, is to avoid the chance of weary- 
ing the reader. This has necessitated the attempt 
to arouse interest in the many directions, rather 
than yield to the instinct to treat each detail more 
exhaustively. 

The terms Soul, Ego, Psyche, are used inter- 
changeably in order to avoid wearisome repetitions. 
There are times when the immensity of the subject, 
with which one must grapple so blindly, makes it 
necessary to ignore conventional meanings. 

The terms science, scientific, scientist, are used 
solely with their original significance ; never with 
the meanings attached to them by later theories. 

M. M. Barbour Stone. 



Contents 



Chap. Page. 

I. Motives for the Study 1 

Kelation of the Soul and Mind 6 

II. Method of Presenting Results of the Study 8 

III. The Powers of the Ego 13 

Lists of the Four Sets 15 

IV. Soul's Relation to the Nervous System 18 

Soul's Relation to the Universe 20 

Evolution of the Nervous System 24 

V. Soul's Exercise Through the Nervous System 28 

Exercise Through the Sensory Nerves 31 

Characteristics of the Five Senses 37 

VI. Exercise of Soul Through the Motor Nerves 41 

Exercise Through Control of Muscles 45 

Evolution Through this Exercise 48 

VII. Exercise Through Control of the Organs .52 

Causes of Imperfect Control 54 

VIII. The Second Set of Powers 62 

Application of this Set to Practical Living 64 

Illustrations of Defective Powers 67 

IX, Motor Half of the Second Set 69 

Relation of these to the Problems of To-day .... 71 

Inspiration — Used to Reveal the Foes to these Powers . . 76 

xi 



xii CONTENTS 

X. The Extent of Truth 79 

" Nothing New Under the Sun " 81 

Effect of this Belittling of the Truth 83 

XI. Inspiration. Relation to the Primitive Life 87 

Conditions Which Would Destroy Such a Power ... 92 

XII. " Soul Nerves. " Comparison with the Physical ... 97 

Lost Efficiency in the Second Set of Powers 99 

Misuse of Terms. Suggestions 102 

Defects of Early Training and Memorizing 110 

Some Deductions 116 

XIII. Third Set of Powers. Comparison with the Others . 119 
Differences in the Agents 121 

XIV. Subconsciousness. The Extent of the Soul 127 

Relation of Subconsciousness to the Soul 131 

Four States of the Subconsciousness 134 

Duty to the Subconscious State 137 

XV. Consciousness ; A Late Acquirement 140 

Relation of Consciousness to Old Age 142 

Change from the Subconscious to the Conscious State, 145 
Relation of the Child's Vitality to Consciousness . . . 149 

XVI. Character of the Change from Subconscious to 

Conscious State 155 

Argument for the Change Being in Rates of Motion . 156 

Resemblances Between Ether and Soul 159 

The Need to Increase the Soul's Vitality 164 

XVII. ' « Hearing One's Self Think." Meaning of this Power, 168 

A Second Telegraphic System 170 

Relation of this System to the Subconsciousness . . . 172 

XVIII. Dreaming 174 

Character of the Agent in Dreaming 175 

The Objective Effect 179 

Search for the Cause of this Effect 180 

Objective Effective in Hallucinations 184 



CONTENTS xiii 

XIX. Memory. Its Two Capacities 186 

An Attempt to Define Memory 188' 

The Objective Effect 193 

XX. The Memory. Vitality 196 

Further Corroboration of a Repeated Vibration . . . 197 

Failure of Memory with Age 200 

Du Maurier's " Dreaming True ' ' 201 

XXI. The Sense of Direction and Time 205 

The Reality of the Invisible 207 

Strength of Soul or Muscle in Catalepsy ? 209 

XXII. The Fourth Set of Powers. Their Meanings . . . 211 
Reasons for Further Development of the Nerves . . . 215 
The Interest in the Marvelous 217 

XXIII. Miracles. Meaning of the Term 220 

A Definition of the Word Faith 223 

Force, Independent of Material Agents 225 

Comparison of Forces in Space and in the Body . . . 228 

Illustrations. Praying for Rain 229 

Thought as a Force 232 

XXIV. Force. Due to a Material or an Ethereal Agent? . . 234 

Deductions 240 

The Need for an Interest in Forces 242 

Illogical Subdivisions of the Soul 243 

XXV. Thought Force. (Meaning a result of actions or 

conditions of Soul) 247 

Will power the Basis Only 250 

Comparison with the Animal Soul 252 

XXVI. Telepathy 256 

Obstacles which Interfere with this Capacity 257 

The Continuous Current 259 

Use of the Motor Nerves in Speech 260 

Relation of Telepathy to Epidemics 264 



xiv CONTENTS 

XXVII. Hypnotism. " Getting Control " 267 

Comparison with "Implicit Obedience" 270 

Relation of Hypnotism to the Will 273 

Hypnotism to Allay Pain 275 

XXVIII. Visions and Astral Body 277 

The Astral Body not Soul ..." 281 

The Soul as Discerned by Writers of Analytic Fic- 
tion 283 

XXIX. " Overwatching Angels." (Spiritualism) 288 

The Mission of Death 289 

The Soul's Dependence upon the Body ..••.. 291 

XXX. Exercise for the Soul 295 

The Soul's Capacity for Managing Life 297 

XXXI. Exercise. Nature's Method 302 

Through Varieties of Work. Three Means . . . 307 
Our National Defect 315 

XXXII. Exercise Through Sensory Nerves and the Arts . . 317 
The Character of this Exercise 320 

XXXIII. Exercise Through Motor Nerves and the Arts . . . 327 
Distinctions in the Uses of the Arts 330 

XXXIV. Exercise of Soul Through Athletics 334 

Comparison of Interest in Athletics and Literature, 338 

XXXV. Education Through Books Compared With Exercise 

of Soul 341 

Cramming 343 

XXXVI. Results from Exercise of the Soul 346 

Meaning of a u Change". Pessimism 347 






A Practical Study of the Soul 



CHAPTEK I 



MOTIVES FOR THE STUDY OF THE SOUL — DEFINI- 
TION OF THE SOUL — RELATION OF SOUL AND 
MIND 

There are few greater needs to-day than a prac- 
tical study of the Soul. There must be well defined 
laws governing its development, and the more com- 
plex our lives become, the more we need to under- 
tand these laws. The more, also, we need to 
scrutinize every institution which is dealing with 
the Soul without this understanding. 

Such a study would need to be a practical, not a 
religious nor poetical one. I mean practical in the 
sense of being freed from all meaningless expres- 
rions and " glittering generalities " ; in being based 
>n natural laws — as far as discoverable — and in deal- 
ng with all practical needs. The knowledge to be 
iought, would be such as the intelligent athlete has 
>f his body ; a knowledge which would enable hu- 

anity to carry out a reasonable plan of living, 
without strewing the path of life with wrecks. 

1 



2 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

This would mean a stupendous undertaking, and 
I hear plainly the cry that it is impossible to learn 
more of the Soul, while in the body. But while 
there are many facts that can only be proved by 
death, if proved at all, there are many minor facts 
to be learned which are needed for the daily living. 

A careful study then, cannot fail to bring results, 
if only in the nature of suggestions. These could 
be tested constantly, by individual experiences, and 
in this way, the sum of present knowledge would 
be increased. Surely, if as man believes, he has 
been permitted to know that Soul has lived forever, 
will live forever, and enters a condition of eternal 
bliss when it leaves the body, the minor facts so 
essential to success, may also be within our reach. 

For each generation, there is required special in- 
terpretations of truth that shall be exactly suited 
to the newer problems which come with progress. 
What is truth for the savage, is not the class of 
truth needed for the more highly developed. What 
was all-sufficient for the first days of the race is not 
sufficient for to-day with its chaos of conflicting 
duties. Each generation has the right to demand 
something exactly suited to its needs. 

Meantime, it must be remembered that no one 
can set bounds to what man is to discover except- 
ing one who himself knows everything. But even 
if nothing were gained from such an investiga- 
tion but reasonable suggestions, the search itself 
would be valuable. We are here, in this life, for 
the purpose of asking questions. It is a most 
healthful occupation. Even the old time discus- 



MOTIVES FOR THE STUDY 3 

sions of " How many angels could dance upon the 
point of a needle," might lessen the vapors of ma- 
terialism. 

The materialist is interested only in what he can 
see, hear, taste and smell : and yet innumerable 
unrecognized causes — forces — are interfering daily 
with his success. To control these forces, we must 
not only have the strength to grapple with them, 
but the ability to be conscious of their existence. 

It is the Soul which sees and conquers ; the Soul 
alone, of which we practically know nothing. (Of 
course, this is not meant for any assertion that the 
Soul creates its power to see and conquer.) 

To investigate then, the latent capacities of this 
Ego and the ways to develop them should infuse a 
new interest in life ; because every one is asking the 
eternal questions, " Why are we born ? " " Whither 
are we going?" A practical study might even 
help to quell the pessimistic lament over lost ideals, 
every one of which we are entitled to attain if we 
work for it, and in the right way. It might also 
furnish a new motive in life for those who can no 
longer recognize the necessity of saving Souls from 
eternal damnation, nor find the newer one of " Eight 
for right's sake " sufficient. 

True, the older motives were wrought out 
through bitterest suffering in the youth of the race. 
They represent the travail of real thinking, under 
mighty difficulties. They have the sacredness of 
garments that have been worn by the dead. But 
even for this, they must not stand in the way of 
such living needs as they can no longer satisfy. A 



4 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

"Father" would not feed his grown children upon 
the " milk for babes." 

The fact that these older motives cannot satisfy, 
however, does not annul the necessity of seeking for 
satisfaction. The Soul is just as real an entity now, 
as when man's whole concern in life was to save it 
from the lake of fire. Its relation to a life to be 
lived without a physical body (which is what a 
future life means), is just as real a subject now as 
then. 

We need now, just as was needed then, a solution 
of " the riddle of existence " ; one that satisfies a 
higher ideal of divinity and that also satisfies the 
sense of justice, which is the most divine of all at- 
tributes. "We need a solution which gives strength 
to continue the struggle of life in a courageous, dig- 
nified way, no matter what the obstacles. 

Such a study could not be carried on as if the 
Soul were some material entity to be seen and 
handled with physical means. We should have to 
investigate, somewhat as the laws of science are 
studied, through the effects of their actions. The 
Soul can be studied in the same way, through its 
various actions and capacities. 

I do not mean by this that we should learn " The 
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." 
But we should learn enough of the truth to meet 
some of to-day's most pressing needs. 

One advantage in making such a study is that 
each could test for himself. Every one has a Soul, 
which is constantly manifesting itself, in every 
physical and mental act. Even ten minutes a day, 



MOTIVES FOR THE STUDY 5 

spent in visiting one's own self, and taking notes, 
would prove interesting and valuable. 

It is not necessary to succumb to that nightmare, 
the dangers of introspection in this study, if a little 
judgment and courage are brought to bear. A 
human Soul is a very wonderful entity; but its 
wonders are duplicated in every other soul. There 
is no excuse then for egotism, especially as we did 
not create the wonders. Also, this Soul is a fearful 
thing; but it becomes much more fearful, if not 
understood in its present stage of development. 
Standing face to face with the Soul itself cannot be 
equal to the tragedies which may result from igno- 
rance of the simplest laws which control its de- 
velopment. 

DEFINITION OF THE SOUL 

Soul is that mysterious entity which makes the 
difference between the living and the dead body. 
As there remains no longer any action, thought, 
emotion after this mysterious entity has departed, 
it is most reasonable to assume that Soul is the 
origin of these thoughts, acts and emotions. 

This is quite as reasonable as relegating them to 
the brain action alone. As one theory can come 
quite as near being proved as the other it is con- 
sidered in this work that in studying these effects 
|we are studying Soul. 

Of course, this means that the deductions arrived 
it are not meant for dogmatic assertions. All that 
Is claimed for these deductions is their reasonable- 
tess. 






6 A PK ACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

RELATION OF SOUL AND MIND 

Also, this means that mind and Soul are not 
regarded as different entities, in this investigation. 
As we have not the slightest proof that the dis- 
tinction usually made, exists between mind and 
Soul, it is a mistake to assume it. The theory has 
already done untold harm. Among other results, 
it has placed the development of the Soul and 
mind into separate institutions, neither of which 
is considered responsible to the other. It has 
also crystallized into the belief that Soul can 
be " good " no matter how weak and ignorant ; 
and that mind can be " intelligent " no matter how 
degraded its tastes and ideals. This has lowered 
the conception of both goodness and intelligence 
and has removed the only available standard for 
perfection in these two characteristics. 

This is unfortunate ; because at its best, our 
highest ideal of " goodness " must be infinitely be- 
low the true one, in breadth, as well as in quality. 
(It is not an assured fact that the mission of a 
Christ has been completely interpreted by human- 
ity. A divine mission must always contain further 
meanings to be discovered.) 

In this investigation then, the mind is considered 
simply as the degree of the Soul's development ; it 
is supposed to bear the same relation to the Soul 
that health, strength or gracefulness bears to the 
body. The mind then, would be something to be 
gained and lost and regained, according to existing 
conditions ; but in either case, the conditions would 
most intimately concern the Soul. 



MOTIVES FOR THE STUDY 7 

True, this is only a supposition ; but so is the be- 
lief that mind and Soul are separate entities, only a 
supposition ; and there is nothing to support it. 

A different point of view then, is desirable. 
Each point of view is a window through which one 
catches a glimpse of the limitless truth. If the de- 
ductions from these glimpses are untenable the fact 
will be presently demonstrated. 

We can then go back and begin over again. This 
is a slow way, but the only sure one in seeking the 
truth. Each step we take is one more in an endless 
stairway. Even in taking it, the last stair, which 
seemed so based on the eternal verities, may fall 
away into the nothingness of untruth ; but it has 
at least served the purpose of getting us up higher, 
where we could discover that it was untrue. 
Only by moving onward do we ever discover 
those natural laws which prove our present opinions 
to be true or false. Each new step brings us to 
firmer ground. We find ourselves humbler; and 
we do not find that refuge of inelastic opinions 
which remove all necessity for further thinking. 
But we do find what enables us to manage life with 
greater success. 

Since Soul is undeniably the moving power of the 
body and since these two are the only means we 
possess for making a success of this life, an under- 
standing of Soul as well as body must lead to this 
success ; and in the broadest sense, not in the con- 
ventional meaning of this term. 



CHAPTEE II 

METHOD OF PRESENTING RESULTS OF THE STUDY 
OF THE SOUL — USE OF THE TERM GOD — OUTLINE 
OF RESULTS TO WHICH THIS STUDY WILL LEAD 

There are several ways in which the results of 
this investigation could have been presented. The 
method finally selected differs greatly from the 
blind search which marked the years of the inves- 
tigation itself. 

As a basis, I have taken three of humanity's most 
commonly accepted beliefs, assumed them to be 
proven, and carried them down step by step, to 
what would appear to be the logical results. 

These beliefs are : 

I. That the human Soul is a " finer body," hav- 
ing certain correspondences to the physical body. 
That it possesses " soul nerves," for instance. 

II. That this Soul has lived forever. 

III. That it will continue to live forever, in a 
conscious and active existence. 1 

The deductions then, are based on a big if. If 
the Soul be a finer body which has lived forever, 
and will live forever, and which corresponds in any 
particulars to the physical one, then certain results 
would follow. 

1 This use of these beliefs must not be taken as a statement of 
personal convictions, or as an effort to prove the premises. This 
is a study of Soul, not of tenets. 

8 



METHOD OF PRESENTING RESULTS 9 

The deductions were never reached in this way, 
however ; and often they deserve more recognition 
than this method permits. They are the sugges- 
tions gained through a long and arduous search for 
a key to unlock a door. These glimpses seemed of 
value ; and this method of weaving them into a 
system, appeared the best. 

It seems hardly necessary to say, in a subject so 
endless as this must be, that the study lays no 
claim to being complete. Many clues, indeed, could 
only be followed out by specialists. In many 
places, the investigation could go no further than a 
question, which it is hoped some one will answer. 
They are practical questions and need answers. 

They are questions also, which I think would 
never have been aroused through taking either the 
religious or the poetic point of view. 

USE OF THE TERM GOD 

Throughout the work, as far as possible, I have 
used the terms " great Force " or great Source in- 
stead of the word God. This is done for several 
reasons. First, the name of this uncomprehended 
power is the least of all the many things which we 
need to know. It is the nature, the meaning, the 
will of this Being with which we need to concern 
ourselves ; and it is my wish to emphasize the 
power — among the other attributes — rather than 
the wisdom or the mercy. Again, all who have 
used this term, God, have not used it wisely or in- 
telligently. Many most degrading human charac- 
teristics that all should deplore, have been asso- 



10 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

ciated with the name, and these, it is often neces- 
sary to criticise. 1 

Meantime, there should be some common ground, 
where all classes of intelligence could meet and be 
interested ; there should be some Name that would 
suggest attributes, and yet that does not interfere 
with any preconceived conceptions (which do honor 
to the idea of omnipotence). The term great Force 
could serve this purpose, and offend no one. Both 
the most skeptical and the most believing mind 
must acknowledge that there exists a mighty force 
which man did not create, cannot control, and is 
not responsible for. And yet, the idea need not 
shut out the most intimate conception of a personal 
God. 

I have avoided also, the use of the words " spirit " 
and " spiritual " as far as possible. The substitute, 
ethereal, is most unsatisfactory ; but the other words 
have come to have so many meanings that they are 
not available for this purpose. It is the words that 
are discarded, however, not the fundamental idea 
for which they stand. In fact, it is because there 
is so much of the unseen universe, in the shape of 
abstract truths and ideas, which the word "spirit- 
ual" does not cover, that the use of other terms 
becomes necessary. 

This study is made first-hand, from the Soul itself. 

1 It is the opinions that need criticism, and man's convictions 
about God are not God Himself. It seems absurd to make this 
statement. But there are those who think that to criticise their 
conceptions of divinity, is to criticise divinity also. 

There may be many criticisms of finite convictions throughout 
the work, but not one of divinity. 



METHOD OF PRESENTING RESULTS 11 

Like all theories, it has its full share of errors, un- 
recognized by its author ; but in studying from the 
deductions of others, one is only adding one's own 
errors to those already advanced. 

It is the same, indeed, as looking through two 
pairs of smoked glasses, instead of the unavoidable 
one pair, and is a wasteful and often pernicious 
method. Truth is for all to study, first-hand. Any 
one who looks long and- steadily into the infinite 
domain and besieges it with incessant questions, 
will find something of their very own in discoveries, 
to contribute to the general fund. " There is noth- 
ing new under the sun " does not mean that there 
is nothing new for man to discover. Alas, for the 
nearsighted eyes that think so ! As for the human 
Souls to be studied, even the poorest one has depths 
which no finite mind can fathom. It is the work 
of the only " Creator," and therefore more worthy 
of attention than the greatest work done by man 
himself. 

OUTLINE OF RESULTS TO WHICH THIS STUDY 
WILL LEAD 

The study will begin with the Ego's present life ; 
but as it progresses, it will be evident that this Soul 
has much to tell to listening ears, about the past 
from which it came and the future to which it is 
going. 

Down these endless, misty vistas one sees slowly 
forming and demanding attention, such subjects and 
questions as the following : 



12 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

I. The way in which the Ego gains its knowl- 
edge, growth and exercise. 

II. The reason why it unites with matter, for 
the brief period we call life, and leaves it in the 
tragedy we call death. 

III. The subtle something which keeps Soul and 
body together; a something so hard to break at 
times, so terribly easy at others. 

IV. The reason why it seems unable to unite a 
second time with matter, at least in a form to be 
recognized. 

V. In what condition this Soul has been through 
all the aeons, of time (if it has lived forever) and 
from which it comes at birth still so ignorant and 
unconscious. 

Indeed the entire subject of the Soul's relation to 
matter seems to offer itself for study, if it is only 
considered by means of the many powers, capacities, 
which the Ego undoubtedly possesses. 

As stated, the Ego will be studied by means of 
these powers, which all souls possess in common 
and which are being constantly exhibited. Not 
that there will be any attempt to present all of 
these powers, or to give in detail those which are 
selected. Many chapters could be devoted to each ; 
but it seemed necessary first to get a comprehensive, 
rather than a detailed view of the Soul while con- 
nected with the body. This would simplify a closer 
study and add to its interest. 



CHAPTEK III 

THE POWERS OF THE EGO 

There are four classes of powers through which 
this study is to be presented. The four will be 
given together to show at once the ground that 
is to be covered. Certain selections are made for 
each list. There is no attempt to consider all the 
powers since there are too many to select from. 

While these powers are familiar to every one, I 
think they have not heretofore been grouped in this 
way or used to make a study of the Soul. In read- 
ing the lists, two facts will be apparent. 

I. Each of the four sets represents the Soul in 
the act of receiving impressions or of willing ac- 
tions. In the physical body, both these states of 
receiving and willing, imply the presence of nerves. 

II. The first set of powers will be seen to be due 
entirely to the presence of nerves, sensory and 
motor ; one enabling the Soul to receive impressions 
of all kinds, as the sensory nerves do. The other 
enabling the Soul to will or command muscular 
actions of all kinds, as the motor nerves are con- 
stantly doing. 

These two facts have caused me to give to the 
two divisions, into which each set of powers di- 
vides itself, the names sensory and motor powers. 
This naming is very clumsy ; but these are the 

13 



11 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

riitific terms in use for the two sets of nerves 
themselves, and it seems best to use the same ones 
in defining the effect of these nerves. The relation 
of the E^o to its nervous svstem is one of the most 
wonderful facts in existence, as I think the study of 
the four sets of powers will demonstrate. Being a 
vast subject, it is most necessary not to complicate 
it by the introduction of new terms. 

The fourth set of these powers consists of a group 
which have, as a rule, not been proved to exist, 
though humanity has been insisting upon their ex- 
istence, without proof, since intelligence wakened in 
the Soul. For this reason, I have named this fourth 
group, the claimed powers. There will be no at- 
tempt whatever, to prove the existence of the claims. 
They were not even in mind when the investigation 
was begun. But there proves to be many inter 
in£ things to be said about them after making a 
study of the thrt which undoubtedly do ex 

There is no claim for scientific exactness in the 
making of the divisions. This can come when there 
is something more to offer for their existence, than 
the fact that they are very reasonable. There is an 
attempt ai em, but some of the powers belong 

on both sides, and there are various other exceptions 
that would take too much time and space to explain 
: thifl ge The subject is immense and requires 
at first a bird"- iew only. These various powers 

are to be scrutinized in order to discover what they 
seem to be telling about the human Soul, its needs 
and the character of its further development. Nat- 
urally, the more ground such a study covers, the 



THE POWERS OF THE EGO 



15 



more chance for mistaken deductions to correct each 
other. 

LISTS 



Sensory 



of powers 
First Set 

Motor 



Seeing. 


The power to control the mus- 


Hearing. 


cles in any physical act. That 


Smelling. 


is, the will power, exercised 


Tasting. 


upon the organs and muscles 


Feeling. 


of the body. 


Seconi 


> Set 


Sensory 


Motor 


Inspiration, Imagination. 


Will power as shown : 


Conscience, ' ' The still small 


I. In controlling one's soul in 


voice." 


anger, fear, indolence. 


Appreciation of the abstract, 


II. In such acts as analyzing, 


such as ideas, laws of nature, 


classifying, getting ' ' a 


mind, ethics. 


bird's eye view," etc. 


Sense of Time, Rhythm, Tone. 


III. Keeping one's mental bal- 


The emotions and sentiments. 


ance in unaccustomed sit- 




uations. 




IV. Control under temptation. 




Thinking. 




Expression. 


Third 


Set 


Sensory 


Motor 


Subconsciousness. 


Consciousness. 


" Hearing one's self think." 


Memory. 


Dreaming. 


Catalepsy. 


Hallucinations. 


Playing by ear. 



Sense of direction, space, distance. 



16 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

Fourth Set 

Claimed Powers 
Sensory Motor 

Visions. Miracles. 

Astral Body. Hypnotism. Mind Cures. 

Telepathy. 
Composition in Literature. Spiritualism. 



The differences between these powers can be 
stated in still another way. The first set shows the 
Soul's relation to the material universe and the con- 
trol of its own body. The second set shows its 
relation to the universe of ideas and laws — the 
abstract ; and the control of its own self. The third 
shows the relation of the Soul to itself, and its con- 
trol of self under unusual circumstances. The fourth 
shows its relation to other Souls, both embodied and 
disembodied, and its control of other Souls and of 
the material universe. 

In presenting the deductions which follow, I 
have tried to keep in closest contact with known 
scientific laws and the facts or experiences of life. 
The subject is an immense one, however, and often 
it has been necessary to refer to certain other facts 
or convictions without any attempt to convince, or 
even explain. This seemed necessary in order to 
condense the present life of the Soul in one volume 
and in order to avoid distracting the attention (by 
too much detail) from the one point of the Soul's 
relation to this nervous system. 

Through this relation, I hope to demonstrate — 
First, that if Soul be " a finer body " it needs 



THE POWERS OF THE EGO 17 

exercise of every capacity, as the physical body 
needs exercise of every muscle. 

Second. That education — religious and secular — 
is not furnishing this exercise, excepting inciden- 
tally. 

Third. That this exercise is to be gained, at first, 
only through the nervous system, which seems fur- 
nished expressly for this purpose. 

Fourth. That this fact has not been recognized 
because the religionist emphasizes only the one 
characteristic of Divinity — the mercy and love. 
And yet there is a trinity of characteristics, and 
the wisdom and power are as much needed in the 
human Soul, as the mercy and love, if the " brother- 
hood of man " is ever to be realized. 



CHAPTER IV 

soul's relation to the nervous system- 
soul's RELATION TO THE MATERIAL UNIVERSE 
— NEED FOR CARE IN TREATING SUCH SUBJECTS 
— EVOLUTION OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 

On account of this apparently close relation 
between these powers of Soul and the nerves, a few 
words about the nervous system in this connection 
will be necessary. Otherwise, the full significance 
of what is to be learned about the soul will not 
appear. It would be interesting, indeed, to follow 
this intimate relation between Soul and this system, 
down to its last detail; but space forbids. This 
very short review of the nervous system, is not a 
pathological one. The system is to be considered 
simply in its relation to the Soul. This relation 
includes not only what these nerves reveal about the 
Ego, but what they do for it ; that is, that they are 
in the nature of a gymnasium. 

Important as the physician's point of view is, 
it deals with these nerves only in their relation to 
the body. Their relation to the Soul should create 
a more dignified and intelligent interest in them, 
than exists with many, at present. 

Science tells us the functions of these two sets 
of nerves. The sensory bring us knowledge of 
the material world around us by enabling us to 

18 



RELATION TO NERVOUS SYSTEM 19 

see the sights, hear the sounds, smell the perfumes 
and taste and feel the flavors and consistencies of 
the various entities which make up this world. The 
motor nerves carry to the muscles and organs of the 
body, those commands which result in every action 
performed and every function carried on. 

We are told also that these nerves have their 
ending — if sensory — and their beginning — if motor 
— in the brain ; but we are told also, that the brain 
is only an enlargement of these nerves, and of the 
same nature. 

Of course, it would be impossible to prove that 
it was the Soul, instead of brain or mind, which 
received these impressions and sent down these 
commands; but we have as much proof for this 
as for any other theory, and the others have stood 
like a blank wall between man and many inter- 
esting possibilities. A change of view then, even 
if only temporary, must have some value. 

Any thought about nerves which does not go 
clear back to the Soul, may be an incomplete, if 
not an erroneous thought, though it may have a 
certain amount of working power. It is consid- 
ered in this work then, that it is the Soul which is 
connected with the universe without and with its 
own body, by the nerves. That is, the Soul waits, 
like a telegraphic operator, behind the two brains, 
and controls these two subtle lines of wire, the 
sensory and motor nerves. Here, it is receiving 
and sending messages, without cessation, as long as 
life lasts. Respiration and the heart action depend 
upon the issuing of these commands. The only 



20 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

possible rest for the Soul then, must be snatched 
between the acts of inhaling and exhaling, and 
between the diastole and systole of the heart. 

(This one suggestion of the Ego's untiring en- 
durance should arouse some curiosity over the con- 
stant cry for rest going up from humanity. Some- 
times it seems to be the dominant note of life : and 
yet, life seems meant for action, not rest. What 
then is the matter ?) 

soul's relation to the material universe 

This telegraphic system, of which Soul is the 
centre, extends on the sensory side, into the uni- 
verse of space. This extension is accomplished by 
means of that mysterious agent, the ether. Every 
one is familiar with the action of the ether, and its 
results ; but completeness requires a slight sketch 
of its action in connection with this study. 

Science has described the ether as a tenuous, 
elastic something which fills all space, and is in in- 
timate connection with nerves and Soul. This ether 
is in a condition of constant, tremulous motion in 
the shape of ripples, wavelets, undulations ; trillions 
of them to the second. These demand of nerves a 
corresponding motion of every conceivable degree 
of swiftness, shortness and intensity. Within this 
mysterious entity lie all the heavenly bodies, among 
them, our own little earth, like a moving island in 
a mighty ocean. Upon this earth and everything 
upon its surface, beat constantly these multitudinous 
waves. Man has named these undulations vibra- 
tions, and discovered the effects of many of them. 



RELATION TO NERVOUS SYSTEM 21 

These vibrations are communicated incessantly to 
all other substances elastic enough to receive them. 
The physical nerves are of this character ; they are 
able therefore, to pass this mode of motion on to 
the Soul. This motion, passed on to the Soul, creates 
within it the sensations of light, color, form — all 
the impressions by which we recognize the existence 
of a material world. (When the atmosphere is in- 
volved, the sensation of sound results also. 1 ) 

Each phase of the impressions coming through 
the sensory nerves, has its own exact rate of vibra- 
tion ; exact in length of the wave, in intensity, and 
exact to the fraction of a second in the time given 
;o a definite number of undulations : as these vibra- 
iions amount to trillions in a second and are often 
)f inconceivable shortness, the exactness with which 
;he nerves must respond, in order to see and hear 
;orrectly, is a marvel. 

It is the effect of these vibrations upon the brain 

Soul) which gives the sensations of the senses. 

hat is, there is no sight or sound in space, as the 

ords are used to express the effect in the soul. 

here is a cause for these vibrations however ; but 

etween these causes and the optic and auditory 

erves there is nothing but a silent and invisible 

ode of motion. In this connection, two points 

ust be alluded to and handled with great discrimi- 

ation. First, the fact that the scientist assumes 

at these sensations end in the brain. Second, the 

1 It would be interesting and significant to discover that sound 
also due to the ether, the atmosphere being only an assistant, 
the audiphone and telephone are assistants. 



22 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

disposition of others to assume that there is no 
cause in space for the sensations of light, form, 
sound, etc. 

NEED FOE CARE IN TREATING SUCH SUBJECTS 

I. Every one knows that the phenomena of see- 
ing and hearing are considered to be only effects, 
existing within the brain and resulting from the 
ether vibrations. That is, if there were no human, 
animal or insect brain to experience these effects, 
there would be no seeing or hearing. I ask the 
reader to consider for the present that the brain 
only assists in carrying the vibrations, and that the 
effects are in the Soul, for the following reason. 

It must be acknowledged that the moment the 
Soul leaves the body, all seeing and hearing that 
would be due to brain action must cease, though 
brain and nerves are still present, and may, for the 
moment be intact. Ether vibrations are also getting 
in their work, just as before the Soul left the body. 
If it was not the Soul then that was receiving these 
vibrations before death, and was seeing and hear- 
ing, why should it be assumed that it can see and 
hear after death? 

The scientific student may not be interested in 
the Soul in this connection ; but he would not care 
to be asserting that a disembodied Soul could not 
see and hear, because no longer connected with 
physical nerves. It may not be able to ; but it 
will not hasten discovery to assert that even in the 
body, it is not Soul which receives the ether vibra- 
tions that cause the phenomena of the senses. 



RELATION TO NERVOUS SYSTEM 23 

II. To realize all that Soul may be gaining from 
this mysterious association with the ether, one must 
make the laws said to govern the action of the 
senses, a habit of thought. In doing this, however, 
one must have also the trained reasoning powers 
that can make fine distinctions, and avoid miscon- 
ceptions of their meaning. 

There is a vast difference between asserting that 
there is no sight nor sound in space, as we under- 
stand these sensations and that there is no material 
world in space to cause these sensations which we 
are so sure exist (in the Soul). The senses are our 
only means for discovering the facts of the material 
existence. They must have been created by the 
great Force, and created for some good, not evil 
purpose. 

The assertion then that their impressions are of 
no more value than dreams, must wait for proof ; 
and this proof will have to be based upon the evi- 
dence of the very senses that are being denied. 

The metaphysicians who first gave voice to this 
assertion that there was no material world, were 
thinkers and had wrestled conscientiously with the 
subject. There was then some excuse for their 
! ailing to see that the absence of certain effects in 
space did not mean the absence of a cause for the 
same effects in the Soul. It is a very different affair, 
however, when those who know nothing of scien- 
tific laws, assert that a cause is absent. At present, 
it will be well to let this cause stand for what it 
seems to be, the material world without. 

This question is really one for another century, 



24 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

when many others, nearer home, have been settled 
To make it the basis of any theory to-day, is onlj 
to increase the unavoidable chaos in which think 
ing exists at present. One must make all allow 
ances for untrained sensory nerves and for the hope 
less bias of personal prejudices and innumerable bac 
habits ; but these sensory nerves must for the pres 
ent be considered as the only wires connecting Sou 
with its environment. 

This is why it is so necessary to understand anc 
to consider practically, the meaning and intention 
of the Ego's intimate relation, during this life, with 
its physical body and nerves. Without this prac 
tical consideration, many important glimpses of th< 
meaning and consequences of this relation wouk 
be lost. 

We have thought that the mission of this nervous 
system was to enable man to recognize the exist 
ence and character of the material world, and to 
make use of the muscles in attaining the pleasures 
and accomplishing the duties of life. But a close 
study of the relation of this system to Soul — not 
brain — suggests this theory that these nerves are 
furnished as a part of the Soul's gymnasium. The 
other uses seem to be details of less importance than 
this exercise. 

EVOLUTION OP THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 

The theory of evolution adds to the reasonable- 
ness of this idea. This theory makes plain that in 
the beginning of life upon this earth, there was no 
appreciable nervous system. Life began in cells of 



EELATION TO NEKVOUS SYSTEM 25 

protoplasm of the simplest construction, and as the 
complexity of the body increased, so in some mar- 
vellous manner the nervous system increased in size 
and efficiency also. 

Did the Soul, imprisoned in the material cells, 
and longing to communicate with the world with- 
out, beat with restless, insistent action against the 
fleshly walls ? Did the force engendered gradually 
create subtle lines of change in this flesh, by which 
at last a nerve resulted ? Or did the existing uni- 
verse without beating in ether vibrations always 
upon the body, create this nerve fibre ? Or was it 
both forces of Soul and ether combined ? 

The sensory nerve once created, would arouse the 
Soul to action and the motor nerves would result as 
a natural effect of this instinct for action. The 
sensory nerves must have continued their develop- 
ment through centuries of existence, with no influ- 
ence, but the ether and the material environment. 
Then man came, and gradually began to add the 
effect of other influences of every description. 

This mere sketch of the evolution of this system, 
suggests two thoughts ; the gradual effect of this 
system in developing the Soul, and the reasonable 
possibility that this evolution of the system is not 
at an end. 

The study of the four sets of powers proves the 
existence of many latent capacities seemingly due 
to sensory nerves and not yet understood. It would 
seem then that these nerves should be given intelli- 
gent care through exercise in order to perfect any 
further carrying power they may possess. 



26 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

After the facility in vibration to which nerves 
have attained, there should be no fear of a further 
development, provided it was carried on judiciously ; 
but in this connection it will be interesting to read 
the following extract. 

Commenting on the common causes of nervous dis- 
orders, Prof. "W. H. Thomson says : " The message 
of modern science about the nervous system is more 
hopeful than ever. It tells us that the nervous sys- 
tem has a greater store of reserve vitality than all 
the other bodily systems put together. It is the 
only texture that is found not to have lost weight 
after death by starvation, as well as after death by 
any cause. It is also the last to grow old." 

The combination of these nerves and the myste- 
rious ether makes a subject for study that is of 
absorbing interest, because it underlies one of the 
Soul's most important capacities ; that is, its ability 
to discern whatever it is necessary for it to know. 

The scientist stops with this statement of the 
ether's omnipresence, its elasticity and its sensitive- 
ness, and the impressions of the senses which result. 
This is all that science needs for a working basis in 
the material domain. The results which follow on 
this plane, keep the scientific seeker too absorbed 
to have curiosity in any other direction. 

But there is another plane besides the material one ; 
there are other needs besides the material needs ; 
there are questions to be answered, even in manag- 
ing the everyday affairs of life, which the material 
world cannot answer. The more humanity de- 
velops, the more insistent these questions become; 



EELATION TO NEKVOUS SYSTEM 27 

and many reasonable answers will be found through 
a patient study of this Soul and all that influences 
it, through the sensory nerves. By considering the 
Soul's relation to these nerves, and the possibility 
that it may need exercise, the answers will prove 
still more logical. The first set of powers is re- 
sponsible for this suggestion of exercise. 



CHAPTEE Y 

FIEST SET OF POWERS 

THE SOUL'S EXERCISE — EXERCISE THROUGH THE 
SENSORY NERVES — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 
FIVE SENSES 

The habit of calling the Soul a finer body, would 
of itself necessitate giving some attention to the 
subject of exercise and a gymnasium. It will be 
difficult to find a point of departure here, however, 
since the premises in the argument are not proved, 
and not even subjects of interest. For instance, it 
would not be possible to prove that the Ego needed 
exercise, or was receiving it through the nervous 
system; even the reasonableness of the idea may 
be hard to demonstrate, until all the four sets of 
powers have been studied — if then. Fortunately, 
however, all acknowledge that the human soul 
grows, develops, though the method and means are 
far from receiving the scientific attention which 
would be due to "a finer body." This growth of 
the Soul then, though not a matter of general inter- 
est will serve to introduce the subject of exercise. 

With many, this growth of the Soul is looked 
upon as an increase in size, as with the body. But 
about this increase in size, there is at present noth- 
ing to be said. "We have no data from which to 
reason. Growth of the Soul, however, does mean 

28 



FIRST SET OF POWERS 29 

increase in discerning and appreciation, and in the 
capacity to perform all that may be required of it 
in any situation. A Soul cannot be said to be grow- 
ing when this increase in both directions is not 
going on. 

Naturally then, to understand and assist in this 
act of growing, one must first make a study of the 
various capacities which Soul possesses ; and the 
study must be made as the gymnast studies the 
muscles of the body. Imagine a gymnast evolving 
exercises for muscles he thought ought to exist, in- 
stead of knowing those which do exist and need 
his care. 

The methods to be used in forwarding the growth 
of the Soul must be most important ; but the meth- 
ods cannot be decided, until all the capacities have 
been discovered and understood. I think it must 
be acknowledged, that as a rule, neither the edu- 
cator nor religionist seeks for the capacities to 
be cultivated in the Soul, as the gymnast studies 
muscles. 

As the very name capacit}^ suggests exercise, and 
as the Ego certainly has capacities, the training of 
these should arouse general interest. Even those 
who evade exercise of the physical body, do not 
deny that it has value. All are familiar with the 
physique of those who evade all exercise, either 
through necessity or choice, and who lumber 
through life with barely enough ability to meet 
the simplest needs. But if one looks closely it is 
easy to detect many a Soul in the same condition ; 
easy to see that it lumbers through every difficult 



30 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

experience and situation it is called upon to meet 
in the problems of life, because humanity is not 
taught that Soul must be exercised. 

But the blame lies with those in control, wher- 
ever they fail to exercise the Ego's capacity to dis- 
cern the conditions surrounding it and its strength 
to control them. These are the two capacities 
which are being cultivated through sensory and 
motor nerves. In this chapter, the capacity to be 
gained through the sensory nerves will be con- 
sidered. 

Where these capacities have happened to be ju- 
diciously cultivated a certain fine-grained condition 
is revealed in any condition of responsibility. This 
is especially revealed where one cannot depend upon 
conventional lines of action, but must meet issues 
that require original planning. This ability should 
be the rule to-day, instead of the exception. But 
this rare degree of capacity is too often laid to in- 
heritance if "not to chance, as genius is considered 
of supernatural origin. There is no question then 
as to why the capacity is not being generally created. 

Even where the capacity is inherited, it was first 
created by some ancestor, though with no conscious- 
ness of what he was doing probably. The fortunate 
combination of circumstances which made it possible 
to create this capacity to discern and control all 
situations, can be reproduced in any generation, if 
the conditions are understood; but it might be 
necessary to go much farther back along the ances- 
tral line, in order to understand, than is realized. 

It is customary to attribute this development of 



FIRST SET OF POWERS 31 

the Ego, mainly to book education, not to exercise, 
because few stop to remind themselves that the race 
had to reach a certain stage of development without 
books, before it became intelligent enough to make 
them. Books then are not the origin of intelli- 
gence, but the result. 

For ages during the childhood of the race, there 
existed no means for the growth of this Ego but the 
material universe around it and the nerves which 
connected it with this universe and its own body. 
And yet, this development went steadily on from 
the first appearance of the cells of protoplasm, with, 
these means alone. There must be some quality in 
this development then, which books cannot supply. 
If this quality is not recognized and provided for, 
if books are expected to do all the work, accom- 
plished through sensory and motor nerves, the race 
must retrograde to that extent. 

EXERCISE THKOUGH THE SENSORY NERVES 

Whatever may be the value of the book education, 
it must have a different effect from that which the 
soul receives in responding to trillions of undula- 
tions a second from the incessant action of the 
ether. Wherever educational methods interfere 
with this exercise which Nature began with, and the 
deficiency is not made up by the exigencies of liv- 
ing, the Ego must be losing a most valuable part of 
its training. 

Recall the number of undulations a second the 
Soul must be able to receive, in sensing color, and 
compare the effect with any to be gained through 



32 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

books. The ether vibrations for the color red are 
four hundred and ninety odd trillions a second, 
and this is the lowest rate. But Soul is responding 
in some way to this marvellous action whenever it 
looks at color. 

Also, not only must the Soul respond to this ex- 
act number of undulations a second, but the waves 
must be of exactly a certain length ; forty thou- 
sand waves to an inch, for the color red, and these 
are the longest. But color is only one of the mul- 
titude of impressions coming always to the Soul 
through the nerves. Imagine the nerves and the 
Soul adjusting themselves to such conditions for 
twelve hours out of the twenty -four and ask if they 
are not getting exercise of a kind to be found in no 
other way. 

Again, all know that the shorter and swifter the 
undulations into which the atmosphere is being 
shaken, the higher the tone which is singing its 
way through the Soul. But is not this Soul being 
exercised when it responds to over four thou- 
sand undulations a second in perceiving the highest 
tone, to which it is able to vibrate (though some 
insects and animals can do no more) ? 

Slower and longer waves of the ether produce 
heat, and w^hen whipped into greater activity, be- 
come light and electricity, producing corresponding 
sensations in the Soul when it is able to respond 
exactly through the sensory nerves. There are 
then three different characteristics in these ether 
undulations to which the Soul must be able to re- 
spond exactly. These are length, swiftness and 



FIEST SET OF POWERS 33 

intensity ; and each must make a marked difference 
in the effect they produce. 

There must come from this constant response to 
these many undulations a something in the nature 
of facility, efficiency, in the Soul that cannot be 
attained through books alone. These incessant 
messages from the ether, are really of the nature 
of a mechanical action upon the soul and must be 
considered as a factor in its development. The fa- 
cility gained by responding to these undulations, 
may be of the nature of refining the Soul ; not in 
the sense too often given to this word, but in the 
sense of removing all awkwardness and clumsiness 
of action. 

A glance at the second half of the second pow- 
ers, will show the actions of the Soul which need 
to be freed from all awkwardness and clumsiness. 
It must be acknowledged, that a most elaborate 
book education sometimes fails to remove such 
defects from these actions, if indeed it always 
brings them into play. 

One reason why book education cannot invaria- 
bly remove this natural awkwardness of the Soul 
in its special work, is because there is nothing in 
books to furnish this mechanical exercise of the 
nerves. Ideas, with which books deal, cannot fur- 
nish this kind of exercise ; and yet the facility of 
the nerves and Soul gained through ether vibra- 
tions, seems indispensable as a preparation for be- 
coming cognizant of things less material. 

Exercise of course implies motion of some kind. 
While a " finer body " may not necessarily require 



34 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

motion or exercise as the physical body does, the 
assumed correspondence between the two makes it 
necessary to consider this possibility. In doing so, 
many characteristics of the Ego become evident, 
that might not have been understood from other 
points of view. 

At present, we know of no class of motion which 
seems associated with the human Soul, but that 
communicated from the ether vibrations. That the 
Soul responds in some way to this motion, is dem- 
onstrated by the fact that it sees and hears. 

It cannot be proved that this response of the Ego 
is in the nature of a motion, a vibration, but again 
it is a most reasonable assumption. Even a dense 
piece of metal permits of response to a vibration : 
it would be impossible, however, for the metal to 
be shaken into the multitude of motions declared 
possible in the ether. This would seem to indicate 
that the more ethereal an entity, the more instead 
of the less it is able to respond to mechanical 
action. 

Finally, any action of a mechanical nature, not 
performed by a machine requires continued exercise 
to make it more perfect, and the sensory nerves 
seem to be furnishing this exercise to the Ego. 

This may seem like attributing a material con- 
sistency to the Soul, but we have really no knowl- 
edge that would make this idea inadmissible. We 
call the Soul " spirit " ; but who knows what is 
meant by the term ? 

A mechanical action in the Soul seems incon- 
gruous, because it is assumed that Soul is something 



FIRST SET OF POWERS 35 

so entirely different from matter, that it cannot 
have a characteristic in common. No one knows 
however that there is really any dividing line be- 
tween Soul and matter, except, perhaps such a one 
as exists between ice and vapor. 

As matter was not created by the devil, but by 
the same cause which created " spirit," there will 
be nothing irreverent in assuming that the Soul is 
capable of this mechanical action which is passed 
on from the ether by the sensory nerves. 

Science asserts that such defects as color blind- 
ness, are due to the absence of this mechanical fa- 
cility in the sensory nerves. Unless these nerves 
are able to respond to exactly the number of tril- 
lions of undulations of exactly the right length, 
which mean red, the right color will not be 
seen. 

But we have really no right whatever to assume 
that it is the nerves only which are at fault. 
This would imply a great difference in the elasticity 
of nerves, or an impossible difference in the ele- 
ments which compose the keenest and the dullest 
ones. 

This means that the defects may be in the Soul, 
instead of in the nerves. I do not know whether 
the physician has experimented with nerves to dis- 
cover whether the incapable ones are made of 
different material from the most highly developed 
ones; but it does not seem reasonable that they 
should be. 

The various combinations of the elements obey 
certain fixed laws. It would seem then that there 






PART II. 



MATERIA MEDICA. 



Acacia. — Acacia is a gummy exudation obtained from 
a shrub growing in western Asia. 

Action and Uses. — In therapeutics acacia is used as a 
demulcent. In pharmacy it is used to suspend insoluble 
substances in water and to hold together the ingredients 
in pills and lozenges. 

Acetanilid (Antifebrin). — Action and Uses. — This 
anilin derivative is an antipyretic, analgesic, and anti- 
spasmodic. As an antipyretic, it is employed to control 
high temperature in. such diseases as typhoid fever and 
scarlatina, but the external application of cold (cold pack 
or cold bath) is generally preferable on account of its 
stimulant effect. As an analgesic it is used in subduing 
such functional pains as headache and neuralgia. By re- 
lieving pain it also aids in inducing sleep. As an anti- 
spasmodic it has been recommended in epilepsy, chorea, 
and whooping-cough. 

Externally, acetanilid is sometimes employed as an 
antiseptic in place of iodoform. 

The effects of a toxic dose are ringing in the ears, 
deafness, a slow, weak, and compressible pulse, subnor- 
mal temperature, slow and shallow breathing, cold sweats, 
and a blue, livid face. 
36 



ACIDS. 



37 



The treatment of poisoning consists in the applica- 
tion of heat to all parts of the body and the use of heart- 
stimulants. 

As an antiseptic, acetanilid is used as a substitute for 
iodoform. 

Dose, 5 to 10 grains (0.3-0.6 gm.) 

ACIDS. 

Acetic Acid (Acidum Aceticum). — Action and Uses. 
— Locally, pure acetic acid is used as a caustic in skin- 
affections. 

Acetic Acid, Dilute (Acidum Aceticum Dilutum).— 
Applied to the skin, acetic acid is a stimulant ; sponged 
over the body, it reduces the temperature and checks 
perspiration. It is also employed as an astringent in 
arresting hemorrhage. 

Dose, \ to 1 dram (2-4 c.c). 

Acetic acid in overdose is a corrosive poison, causing 
severe pain in the throat, extending to the abdomen, pro- 
fuse purging, and collapse. 

Treatment consists in giving large quantities of milk, 
chalk, magnesia, lime-water, or soap-water. 

ArsenotlS Acid (Acidum Arsenosum; White Ar- 
senic). — Metallic arsenic is inert and is not used in medi- 
cine. The preparations are all derived from white arsenic. 

Action and Uses. — Taken internally in small doses, 
arsenic is a general tonic, stomachic, alterative, and anti- 
periodic. It improves the appetite, digestion, and nutri- 
tion, and increases the strength and quantity of the blood. 
Externally, applied to any part in a concentrated form, it 
is a caustic ; in the dilute form it is an irritant and anti- 
septic. When applied locally to the broken skin, an 
ulcerated surface, or a mucous membrane, it may be ab- 



38 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

If this one window should be the sense of taste, 
which at its best must have less educational value 
than the others, the result may be most serious. 
Too often, this sense shuts and hermetically seals 
all the other windows and the. Soul lives in a 
darkness too intense to reveal its misery to itself. 
Without doubt, in the beginning of the race's 
development, this sense of taste, combined with 
hunger was most essential as a. means for putting 
the Soul into action. It is still a most necessary in- 
fluence among primitive grades of character. There 
will always be some who cannot be driven or coaxed 
to action excepting through hunger or the gratifi- 
cation of the palate. 

This grade has its place. The race and the indi- 
vidual must creep before it can walk, and better 
creep from a lower motive than not to creep at all. 
But it is a great pity when those who have reached 
the ability to rise above this motive, fail to discover 
that there are still higher appreciations. 

There must exist latent in every human Soul, the 
ability to enjoy and to appreciate every beautiful 
or valuable influence which can come to it through 
all the senses. The farther one has advanced be- 
yond the animal stage then, the more highly de- 
veloped will be this ability and the more it will 
need to be fed. The supremacy often accorded to 
the sense of taste, must be always stifling the Soul's 
awful cry of starvation. It is this starvation, which 
is the cause of the greatest part of the physical, 
mental and moral degeneracy of to-day. 

Of course, this sense of taste is not meant to be 



FIRST SET OF POWERS 39 

suppressed, entirely. The gourmet, with his fine 
distinctions as to flavors, would be doing exactly 
right, if in conjunction with this, he strove to be 
equally sensitive to all the other messages the ether 
can bring to the Soul, through the other senses. 
But at this stage of life, however highly developed 
the sense of taste may be, it should be the least in 
evidence of all. 

It should strive also to be a cosmopolitan taste, 
able to appreciate all things, instead of being nar- 
rowed to a few sensations, which make life misera- 
ble if they are not gratified. All the stringent 
rules for niceties of table manners, for table decora- 
tion and serving, with the strict and elaborate laws 
for combinations in partaking or preparing, are but 
the Soul's instinctive effort to lift this taste as far 
above the animal stage as possible. 

The senses of taste, touch and smell, were evi- 
dently mainly intended for sentinels at the door of 
life. This union of Soul with matter must have 
been a most important affair, since such provision 
was made to protect it. Indeed, the importance of 
the Soul's association with the material world is 
suggested by the fact that the sense of taste is the 
only one which cannot ignore the sensation of 
hunger. 

In this sense, hunger is present, without having 
Deen cultivated. In all the other senses, especially 
he higher ones, it must first be elaborately culti- 
vated, by action of optic and auditory nerves. 
There is a grade of humanity which can live this 
ife contentedly without books, music, pictures, 



40 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

beauty, the thousand and one exquisite effects of 
nature, and feel no discomfort whatever. 

But this reveals plainly the condition of the Soul 
itself ; that it has developed but a little way beyond 
the animal stage, since, as is the, case with the ani- 
mals, there is no suffering in this state which would 
be one of starvation to the highly developed Ego. 
But the blame never lies with these whose tastes 
have not been developed. It lies with those who 
undertake the charge of the Soul, in any direction 
without understanding the laws which control its 
growth, through this nervous system. 

Since these wonderful conditions can onlv reach 
the Soul through these sensory nerves, it should be 
evident, that they need the most discriminating 
care. But this care must include something more 
than is required by the physician in his special ca- 
pacity. Naturally, he is not considering these nerves 
as telegraph wires between the Soul and the material 
world. 

Meantime, the Soul itself is in the hands of the 
educator, who calls it a mind, and of the religionist 
who calls it spirit and who fails to consider its practi- 
cal needs. It must be then, that many things are to 
be added and subtracted from the methods of these 
guardians of the Ego. 

The forces of life, seen and unseen, material and 
ethereal, are without number, yet they are all 
meant to be recognized and conquered. But we 
conquer through strength, and strength is gained 
through exercise. 



CHAPTER VI 

FIRST POWERS 

SOUL'S EXERCISE — MOTOR NERVES— EVOLUTION 
THROUGH EXERCISE OF THE SOUL 

The idea that the material universe and the 
ether should contribute to the exercise of the Soul 
through sensory nerves, may not seem incongruous. 
That might almost become a subject for poetical 
treatment : but I am afraid there may be many ob- 
jections to considering the body and motor nerves 
a part of the gymnasium prepared for this ethereal 
being. 

The feeling will be due partly to the illogical 
contempt for this bod}^ which has been deliber- 
ately fostered and to the undoubted degradation 
of what should be the ideal, which has followed. 
Even the Greek mind may not have been able to 
imagine all the perfections this body may have 
been meant to attain, if its highest use as a means 
of exercise for Soul could have been recognized and 
the proper respect for it cultivated. But nothing 
more perfect could be imagined, to enable the Soul 
to attain to every possible grace, and beauty of 
strength than this body with its multitude of means 
upon which the will power and resourcefulness can 
be exercised. 

Every muscular action, from the movement of an 

41 



42 A PKAOTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

eyelid to the most difficult feat of a specialist is 
due to a command, conscious or unconscious, from 
the Soul and contributing to the exercise it should 
be taking. Exercise means increased facility ; to 
suggest increased facility for the Ego, should fire 
the imagination. How many things humanity 
wants to do and is not able ! If it could be proved 
that this inability were due to a defect of the Soul, 
instead of to circumstances, and that the Soul's de- 
fects came from a neglect to exercise, what a simple 
solution this would be ! 

Of course every one realizes to a certain ex- 
tent, that the body becomes clumsy and inefficient, 
if not properly exercised. When humanity's needs 
were all material ones, this fact was recognized. 
To-day, there are many needs which do not depend 
at all upon physical strength. Instead of realizing 
however that strength must be the basis in satisfy- 
ing these needs also, the idea is often lost sight of 
entirely. This is most unfortunate, because often, if 
not always it is some weakness of the Soul which 
keeps any desired benefit out of reach, whether it be 
a material one, or otherwise. There are of course, 
always conditions which no human strength could 
conquer ; but it is not such conditions that are in- 
terfering with the success of the great majority. 

It is most unfortunate then that there is so little 
thought of exercise in cultivating strength of char- 
acter, since this has led to the idea that only the 
athlete needs to use his muscles. This exercise is 
made possible through the nerves and muscles of 
the body, but if the Soul controls these nerves, their 



FIRST POWERS 43 

efficiency must depend somewhat upon the strength 
it is able to exercise in issuing its commands. 
Now a command given at rare intervals, cannot 
produce a result in strength and precision such as 
comes from practice. The clumsiness which re- 
sults then, may be quite as much the fault of the 
Soul in commanding, as of the muscle in obeying. 
That is, the strength of the body may often be an 
exact measure of the strength of the Soul. 

But if the Soul is too weak to control its own 
body under certain conditions, why should not this 
weakness be expected to interfere with the attempt 
to satisfy those needs which lie beyond the material 
wants ? 

One needs to see and will in meeting these 
last necessities as well as in the first ; and this see- 
ing and willing power needs exercise. It may be 
that if the body contributed its share towards fur- 
nishing this exercise, it would require less attention 
itself. Physical weaknesses shut from view those of 
the Soul ; and yet the defects of the Ego are abiding, 
while the elements which make the frame work of 
the most indifferent body to-day, may be assisting 
in the feats of a great athlete in the next generation. 
This would mean that the motor nerves have 
probably more to reveal about the condition of the 
Soul than the sensory have. The former carry the 
commands given into their keeping. If given in a 
clumsy, hesitating way, they will be carried in 
that way, and awkwardness and clumsiness will re- 
sult, which will be due to the Soul alone. 

Of course there are unconquerable defects in the 



44 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

physical construction due to accidents or some 
other misfortune to nerves and muscles. But in the 
case of such conditions the Soul is often found ex- 
erting abnormal power in conquering them because 
of its aroused ambition to prove itself the equal of 
the rest of humanity. (If such Souls could only 
realize how often they are proving themselves far 
superior ! ) In such cases, it is the character of the 
Soul alone, which makes the difference between one 
cripple who stands upon the street corner and begs 
while another will use the muscles of the feet to ac- 
complish the work of the hands and seem to meet 
no difficulty that cannot be conquered. ■ 

If humanity's attention were not always filled 
with the work accomplished instead of the Soul at 
%oorlt,, these efforts would receive the attention thev 
deserve ; (and incidentally, we might have a saner 
standard of work). 1 

I think it is this failure to acknowledge that the 
strength of the Ego is to be cultivated first through 
exercise alone, that is helping all the time to create 
these weak natures. If the need for exercise were 
acknowledged the means to give it would become 
immediately a subject of interest, and this would 
bring a recognition of the valuable work of the 
motor nerves. 

Strength is never created by the means now in 

1 Souls with no ambition to conquer bodily defects, are the 
work of humanity, however, not of the individual. These cannot 
furnish for themselves the inspirations that would arouse their am- 
bitions and those in charge do not furnish them so that they are 
within the reach of even the weakest. 



FIRST POWERS 45 

use for developing the Soul. Threats, eulogies, 
promises may rouse strength into action, when it 
already exists, but will never create it. The 
entire subject of Soul strength, however, receives 
too little attention : and yet, even in a disembodied 
state there would surely be situations and duties 
required of the Ego which would demand the in- 
tensest self-control and the capacity for swiftness 
and precision. 

Probably no one will object to the assertion that 
it is Soul which is exercising the strength with 
which one resists temptation, or that this strength 
was given for man to cultivate to its highest extent : 
but few will be willing to acknowledge that it is 
the Soul which is at fault when one is weak, either 
physically or mentally. And yet such a fact would 
prove as potent as Ithuriel's spear in revealing a 
host of wrong conditions, and of permitted habits, 
which are constantly sapping the strength with 
which one can " be good." 

This power to resist temptation, can of course, 
be inherited; but this handing down has its limits. 
Also, this strength is often being cultivated by the 
discipline of life, without the fact being always 
noticed. But both these sources are uncertain and 
the latter will be evaded wherever it is possible. 

We need then to have some definite, unfailing plan 
for the Soul's cultivation, just as we have for in- 
creasing physical strength. At present, I repeat, no 
plan offers for the actual creation of strength of Soul 
except this suggestion, that it is to be gained 
through the Soul's continued control of the motor 



46 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

nerves, in willing every act that is possible to the 
human body. 

This is why it is so necessary to gain assent to 
the idea. When the Soul is trying to resist tempta- 
tion, we say that it is " exercising its will." The 
expression is a common one, and. means that hu- 
manity already regards the control of the " Soul 
nerves " as an action ; (and sometimes even con- 
siders it as an action of the Soul instead of an action 
of the mind). But when a physical or an ethereal 
body is performing an action of any kind, it is tak- 
ing exercise. The Ego's control of the muscles then 
should mean the same. A practical view of the Soul 
would have revealed this fact. Unfortunately, very 
little thought is given to the Soul in action except 
in a few conventional directions. 

If it could be proved that it was the Ego alone 
which sent the commands down the motor nerves 
to the muscles, we should have a perfect explana- 
tion of the exercise of abnormal strength which 
often takes place in great crises. Such exhibitions 
are usually laid to some supernatural cause. But 
there are no supernatural causes ; and a perfectly 
natural one is at hand. In responding to these sud- 
den demands, often the very poor nerves will cslyyj 
the unaccustomed commands, and the muscles will 
obey them. In these cases, it is the same muscles 
and nerves which a moment before would have 
found such an effort impossible for ordinary neces- 
sities. All that was different, lay in the motive for 
action — in the Soul instead of in the body. 

For motives are something which influence Soul, 



FIRST POWERS 47 

not muscle. Also, it is Soul, not muscle which can 
spring in one moment from the depths of woe where 
action of any kind is almost impossible, to heights 
of joy, when even flying seems a (remote) possi- 
bility. Matter takes a definite time to go through 
changes. Its various characteristics of adhesion, 
weight, brittleness, obey laws which cannot be set 
aside at a moment's notice. But Soul is, or should 
be hampered by no such material considerations ; 
that is by none of the laws of this kind, which 
govern matter. 

Instead, the Soul's ability is graded only by the 
strength and character of the motives which influ- 
ence it and by the use it has learned to make of 
the exercise to be gained through its body. It is 
not reasonable to assume that there is any limit set 
to the strength the Ego may be able to attain. 
There is a fund of unused strength in every indi- 
vidual that is never drawn upon except in great 
emergencies, and which probably reveal the class of 
work that could be always accomplished with a little 
judicious daily exercise of the Soul itself. 

As for the nerves and muscles, they are made of 
the same elements which in space never grow tired, 
or ill ; of the same elements that in the body of an 
intense Soul are capable of unheard of heights of 
endurance. Where can the fault lie then, but with 
the Ego ? 

Sudden emergencies tap this strength momen- 
tarily ; but keen interests, intense conscientious- 
ness, or great discrimination will create a steady de- 
mand, which acts as a cultivator, not a destroyer 



48 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

of this strength. Every one is acquainted with the 
characters which never Jiave energy for any occu- 
pations but the ones they like, and have always 
enough for these. Supply the motive in the shape 
of a necessity to the conscientious soul, or an object 
sufficiently attractive to the self-indulgent one, and 
it is amazing what results may follow. 

Of course these demands may be carried too far, 
just because the Soul is also an entity subject to 
laws and having therefore its limits. But these 
limits are rarely reached. They depend also upon 
the cultivation of motives and interests alone, and 
every being of average intelligence is equal to this 
cultivation. Even the strength which really exists, 
is rarely tested, because so often, humanity has 
come to stand in deadly fear of tests of strength, 
and avoids them whenever it is possible. Fear will 
suppress or neutralize the finest strength. 

EVOLUTION THROUGH EXERCISE OF THE SOUL 

There is still a further reason for believing that it 
is Soul which controls the muscles and motor nerves 
of the body. In giving it, still another and most 
interesting light will be thrown upon the character 
of the Ego. This further reason is presented through 
the theory of evolution, in explaining the gradual 
growth of the human body from the first cells of 
protoplasm. 

The human form has undoubtedly gone through 
numberless modifications, and some agent was at 
work besides environment in creating these changes. 
Environment could never have produced them with- 



FIRST POWERS 49 

out the presence of the Soul. It may not be gener- 
ally agreed that Soul was the agent and had been 
given this power to construct and modify its own 
body ; but it will be as easy to prove this as any 
other theory, and a close study of the Soul makes it 
seem the most reasonable. 

Naturally, if the Ego assisted in constructing its 
own body, it continues to control its actions in 
every particular, unless the capacity is lost through 
neglect. A further glance in this direction, with 
the Ego as the agent, will prove most interesting. 

It is evolution which tells us of the wonderful 
changes that have taken place in the physical 
bodies upon the earth, before the form of man was 
reached. Every change in environment to which 
organic creatures were subjected from the begin- 
ning of their existence upon our globe, resulted in 
a corresponding change in its body. A faithful ac- 
count of these multitudinous changes has been kept 
in the stony pages of the geological records in the 
earth's crust. This mighty book was made by infi- 
nite Power itself, and man cannot meddle with it, 
or misinterpret it — for long. In its pages, one can 
almost see the placing of each new cell in the body, 
during this evolution, or the taking away of one 
which had been already placed. And yet many 
doubt the possibility of "mind over matter." 

For ages then, this physical body was the only 
toy which the infancy of the race possessed. While 
untoward incidents and accidents of every descrip- 
tion interfered with its development into the human 
form, the Ego's incessant instinct to fashion and re- 



50 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

fashion, was never arrested. There was but one set 
of conditions which it was never able to conquer 
during its work towards the perfect ideal of form. 

That set of conditions was habit ; for this is what 
the term " highly specialized " must mean. Watch 
for a moment this infant artist, the Soul, experi- 
menting with those imperfect shapes in the dawn 
of existence. These uncouth bodies were all its first 
powers were equal to fashioning ; but each change 
in its environment called for a new modification, 
and geology reveals how every change was seized 
by the Ego as a means for making improvements, 
whenever this was possible. But if any individual 
or species remained too long in one set of condi- 
tions it became so rooted in the consequent habits, 
that this divine power to respond to different con- 
ditions, was lost, just as it is lost to-day, when one 
gets into a rut. 

These " highly specialized" bodies then, failed to 
be modified, and we see the result in the long line 
of animals, still able to perpetuate that particular 
habit which arrested their development into higher 
forms. Wherever Souls were able to evade these 
conditions of habit, the development went steadily 
on, until the human hand was reached which made 
all further steps possible. It is the hand alone 
which makes the difference between the human and 
the brute Soul. The possession of the hand with all 
its nerves and muscles instead of a hoof or paw, 
makes possible an infinite number of actions that 
develop the will power in inconceivable directions. 

Of course in asserting that Soul fashions its own 



FIRST POWERS 51 

body from the elements, this does not mean that 
it created its power to do this fashioning. The 
idea then, need not interfere with the most inti- 
mate conception of a personal God, who is the 
only creator. The human Soul did not make the 
elements, nor the laws which govern their actions. 
When it fashions its own body then, it is only obey- 
ing these laws, unconsciously. 

Naturally, this assertion admits of no proof ; but 
it is so nearly self-evident, that it may be used as a 
reason for believing the Ego controls the muscles of 
its own body as long as it remains in possession. 
Also, that in attending to this duty, its strength and 
will power are being exercised, in proportion to the 
use it makes of these nerves and muscles. 

The importance of the effect of motor nerves 
upon the Soul's strength requires attention to still 
a third duty to which the sensory set attend. It 
is these which arouse the motor nerves to action, 
when the Soul is still too undeveloped to be af- 
fected by ethereal causes. (Often it is only because 
one sees or hears, that Soul is ever aroused to action.) 

This is demonstrated in the infant's first steady 
looking at some bright object and later in the 
reaching for it. All through life, incentives to 
action come through these sensory nerves, and 
when the habit of getting up and doing is estab- 
lished, it is so much easier to repeat it, when the 
incentive is an ethereal and less evident one. 

Inertia is a far reaching cause of much wrong- 
doing, and the sensory nerves are the most potent 
influence against the grip of inertia. 



CHAPTER VII 

EXERCISE THROUGH CONTROL OF THE ORGANS — 
CAUSE OF IMPERFECT CONTROL BY THE SOUL 
— VITALITY OF SOUL IMPLIES HEALTH 

While it may be possible to remove prejudice 
against the idea that Soul controls the muscles, its 
control of the organs of the body cannot hope for 
any such indulgence. Every one knows that the 
motor nerves extend to all the organs, and control 
them ; but that the Ego should in its turn be put to 
the practical work of controlling these nerves, and 
hence the organs will seem too incongruous. Habits 
of thought are most stubborn things. These have 
made it seem much more appropriate that Soul 
should be floating through space On inartistic ad- 
ditions to its anatomy than engaged in the won- 
derful work of keeping intact its temporary home. 
This idea is also complicated by another convic- 
tion, that superior beings are degraded by being 
put to practical uses. And yet there is no detail 
which the great Force finds too practical or too 
small to be closely looked after in this great uni- 
verse. If nature is studied closely, she reveals as 
the most evident of all the characteristics of this 
great Force, this one of practicalness. Everywhere, 
combined intimately with the beauty and glory of 
the material world is found the closest attention to 

52 



CONTROL OF THE ORGANS 53 

humblest details without which the beauty and 
glory would be impossible. It is the arbitrary 
meaning which man has attached to the word " spir- 
itual " which has shut out all these facts. 

Fortunately, the heart is allowed to be upon 
speaking terms with the Ego and all acknowledge 
that a perfect heart action is the secret of health, 
and has a definite effect upon all the other organs. 
No one can deny, also, that sudden emotions have 
a marked effect upon this heart action, and emo- 
tions are states of the Ego, which in this case, 
surely affect this action. 

But if intenser states can do this, lesser ones 
must also be having some faint effect, and it is ac- 
knowledged that the usual habits of mind have 
much to do with the general tone of the system. 

This would account so simply for mind cures of 
every description without making certain illogical 
assertions which it is impossible for man to prove. 
Whether these cures are due to some formula that 
brings hope and courage to the Soul, or to some 
requirement that arouses the Soul to some unaccus- 
tomed mental action, (such as thinking) or are due 
to some high quality of courage and concentration 
in the agents themselves, the object is always a 
change in the Soul not the body. And the Soul 
itself brings about the needed condition in the 
body as it brought about the changes of evolution. 
The agents need not fear to acknowledge their 
share in the work, since thev did not make the 
conditions which brought about their higher effi- 
ciency. No one is afraid to laud a gift. Also, if 



54 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

a soulless tuning fork can communicate its state to 
another in the same key, surely the Soul ought to 
have the same capacity itself, and is defective, if it 
be lacking. 

A truth however can be carried by the veriest 
lout and have some effect ; as a candle, in the hands 
of any one, will send some light. Even a misstate- 
ment of a truth will have some effect, if it appeals 
in any way to the latent strength which lies in 
every Soul. 

CAUSE OF IMPERFECT CONTROL BY THE SOUL 

This Ego, which should be the freest of all enti- 
ties is the base, unhappy slave of a thousand fears 
created by man in the dark ages of the mental 
life when man could not have had any understanding 
of the law of cause and effect. In those days, when 
intelligence was just beginning to ask questions, 
anything mysterious which occurred in the body, 
was arbitrarily connected with something; often 
the last incident in the mind. This incident imme- 
diately became taboo though without doubt it had 
nothing to do with the condition ; and each experi- 
ence of this kind shut out one more means of exer- 
cise and strength. 

Thousands of souls to-day, are bound hand and 
foot by such convictions which have not an atom of 
truth in them, and yet which have proved the 
strongest of chains. " Beliefs " they are called by 
one movement of to-day, and are well named. 
These chains were formed in the days which had 
every excuse for making such mistakes. They are 



CONTROL OF TPIE ORGANS 55 

perpetuated to-day, under the name of laws and 
cannot be scrutinized too closely to discover whether 
they are laws made by man or by the great Force. 

But this scrutiny must be conducted with the 
utmost discrimination. There are divine laws 
governing the relations of the elements in the body, 
as well as those in space. Man cannot create such 
laws, though he may create " beliefs " without num- 
ber. The " beliefs " cannot be attacked too severely, 
but to make no distinctions between these and 
a scientific law of the universe is often a tragic 
mistake. 

The student has proved that these laws of nature 
do exist and govern the elements in space and in 
the human body. But the ideas upon these sub- 
jects, handed down from the past, are often only 
unproved traditions. It is true, they have grown 
most arrogantly potential ; but this is due to their 
long and undisputed possession of the material 
body. They can be and should be dispossessed, but 
always with discrimination between laws and mere 
traditions. 

The daring ones who refuse to be slaves to im- 
pertinent traditions, break these chains and survive 
by means of the strength of their convictions. But 
the strength must be due to these convictions, and 
not to the commands of another. This is because 
it is not will power that is being used ; many come 
to grief, through thinking that it is. 

Will power is an act of the soul : these convic- 
tions are not an act, but a state of the soul ; and a 
state is not to be created upon the spot at the mo- 



56 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

merit needed. This state is the result of many ex- 
periences and conditions ; but they all have one 
characteristic in common. That is, their tendency 
is to break the chains of wrong habits and convic- 
tions — those of both the race and the individual — 
and to demand the cultivation of individual strength. 
Each chain broken, means an addition to the 
strength with which Soul is to conquer whatever 
interferes with its true happiness. 

These experiences and conditions are not compati- 
ble with a life of self-indulgence however. They 
must have driven or coaxed one to climb and climb 
until one gets above human valuations, and begins 
to scent the air of truth itself. In this rarefied at- 
mosphere, all the debasing interpretations of the 
meaning of life and divinity, with which many have 
degraded the ideas of Soul, body and truth, begin 
to be revealed in all their monstrosity. One real- 
izes that the " Firstborn " of creation, the " Son of 
the Father," the heir of all the ages, cannot be 
these and at the same time a " worm in the dust." 
One realizes that Divinity is not elevated by de- 
preciating its works ; and that the human Soul has 
the right to aim for the highest perfection, without 
fearing that in aiming, it is presently going to 
catch up with omnipotence, or omniscience. 

Then, when one realizes that " a Father " would 
want His creatures to stand upright and demonstrate 
His supremacy by the heights they can reach, in- 
stead of by crawling in the dust, there comes a 
realization of the Ego's rights in the scheme of 
the universe — its right to rule in its own domain, 



CONTROL OF THE ORGANS 57 

the body ; a right which must have been provided 
for. 

As this state is attained, the Ego is able to 
reach a white heat of just indignation when these 
usurping traditions of physical weakness contest its 
ownership and supremacy in its own body ; and at 
last, it is able to rise in its might, as would a mon- 
arch, and say, " Who is master here, you or I ? " 

VITALITY OF SOUL IMPLIES HEALTH 

When this height is reached, the Soul is intensely 
alive, and its vitality means health. Then, almost 
anything may be dared, because the Soul is coming 
to its own. Coming to its own, means coming to 
the ability (which seems to exist) to at least control 
life within its own body. If this physique, with its 
wonderful two sets of nerves has been furnished as 
the Soul's gymnasium it becomes then a religious 
duty to attain the capacity and accomplish the 
work which this combination would make possible. 

We need a much broader conception of duty, and 
this would furnish it. It is the Soul's duty to learn 
how to keep intact the elements within its body. 

When the Soul leaves this body in the phenomenon 
called death, a new class of chemical action imme- 
diately begins among these elements called decay. 
This means that it is the presence of the soul 
which prevents this disintegration of the elements, 
(with more or less success). That is, in spite of the 
volatile nature of many elements, many Souls are 
able, in some way to keep up the proper balance 
which means health. 



58 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

Degrees of ill-health probably mean degrees of 
weakness in this control,. except in the case of ac- 
cidents or outside influences, which Soul certainly 
cannot control at present. It is the present which 
concerns us. It will be time enough to predict, 
when humanity has gained the control which is pos- 
sible — that of the elements within its own body, as 
long as it is not transgressing a law of nature in- 
stead of a finite one. 

If now the Soul is to meet and oppose constantly, 
this instinct of the elements in its body to separate 
and form new combinations detrimental to health, 
it must itself be well and strong. Elements are 
never ill, either in space or in the body. They 
are simply straining to get off into newer combina- 
tions. But this instinct, if not properly controlled 
will create illness in the body. 

Many things interfere with the Soul's ability to 
get this control. Fear, instead of being the only 
cause, is but one in this group. Its removal needs 
to be handled with the utmost discrimination and 
distinction between natural and finite laws. But 
the crusade against fear need not even be men- 
tioned if the attention were centered upon the 
means for putting Soul itself into a condition of 
strength. Meantime, no more wonderful gymnasium 
for developing this strength could have been planned 
than this human form, with its means for exercise 
in every conceivable direction. It may have been 
some instinctive realization of all the Soul could ac- 
complish with this wonderful body, that suggested 
the expression " a harp of a thousand strings." 



CONTROL OF THE ORGANS 59 

But how much of this exercise, which the Ego so 
needs can be and is evaded, when one is indolent 
and not driven by conscience, necessity, ambition or 
a critical spirit. If it were not for the exercise 
gained in controlling the organs, such Souls would 
sink into an inertia that means death. 

The organs, however, must be controlled, because 
life depends upon their action; and so even the 
most indolent Ego settles down with some steadi- 
ness to this work. 

As said before, the sensory nerves have a third 
use in this gymnasium. Not only do they exercise 
the Ego daily in finer and finer discrimination in its 
appreciations of material things, but these nerves 
are able to furnish the first incentives which drive 
or coax the Soul into the necessary use of its will 
power. Wherever a sensory nerve is defective 
then, or wherever a person is shut out from the 
variety of inspirations these nerves were meant to 
be bringing every hour, inducement is being offered 
the Soul to sink that much more into a condition 
of inertia. This is the secret of the load of deg- 
radation this sad earth carries upon her bosom. 

Even at their best, the classes of ether messages 
to which the nerves are able to respond are very 
limited. The many phones being invented to-day 
are constantly demonstrating that fact. It is not 
safe then to limit further any capacity of nerves 
which really exists. The more interests one has, 
the more efforts will be made to attain them. 
They must be right interests and one must be 
taught self-control; but the human Soul cannot 



60 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

stand monotony and thrive, if it has developed far 
beyond the animal stage. 

Every interest arouses a new set of commands to 
the muscles. Every command sent down the motor 
nerves to the muscles, refines away that much 
more of clumsiness, awkwardness in the body, and 
the result is gracefulness. The greater the variety 
of these commands, the more there is added to this 
gracefulness, some nameless fascinating quality, im- 
possible to describe, but very real. All this can be 
handed down for a generation or more, but not for 
long, usually. , 

This condition is not confined to the body how- 
ever. With every command being sent, the Ego 
itself is also refining away all weaknesses of ex- 
pression, uncouthness of conception, clumsiness of 
thinking which would certainly interfere with the 
unimaginable gracefulness that should belong to a 
finer body. These defects of the Ego are very 
common. This is what the word refinement should 
mean ; the removing of all defects, among them 
weakness which makes gracefulness impossible. 

The idea sometimes met, that refinement is dis- 
played by inability to stand some disagreeable effect 
or by going into hysterics over some agreeable one, 
is a most unfortunate one, since both of these ac- 
tions mean only a weakness which has not been re- 
fined away. A Soul truly refined can stand any- 
thing that is necessary in the way of the disagree- 
able, and practice self-control in the most unaccus- 
tomed places. The second class of powers displays 
the meaning of this refining process. When one 



CONTROL OF THE ORGANS 61 

considers the multitude of messages from the ether 
to which Soul has been responding for ages and the 
multitude and variety of commands it has been 
issuing to the muscles, it is not strange that the 
Ego should have developed from the animal nature. 

But it is well worth while to make familiar the 
idea that this change has been due mainly to this 
mechanical action of the Ego, in responding to these 
wonderful ether vibrations, and issuing the com- 
mands, through the motor nerves. 

Finally, it seems most reasonable that this Soul 
will have many capacities to be cultivated, many 
sentiments and emotions to be developed, many 
duties to perform, many needs to be looked after, 
besides those which the conception of religion con- 
siders. It may even be a fact that the " goodness " 
which would be acceptable to an omnipotent and 
omniscient Being cannot be cultivated if these other 
necessities are not attended to. 



CHAPTER VIII 

SENSORY SET OF POWERS — RELATION OF THE 
SENSORY SET TO PRACTICAL LIFE — ILLUS- 
TRATIONS OF DEFECTIVE SECOND POWERS 



LIST 



Sensory 

Inspiration. Imagination. 

Intuition. Conscience. 

Appreciation of the abstract, 
such as ideas, opinions, laws 
of nature, mind, art, ethics. 

Reasoning powers. 

Sense of time, rhythm, tone. 

All emotions and sentiments ; 
hope, fear, courage, venera- 
tion, sympathy, sense of jus- 
tice, etc. 



Expression, in 



Motor 
Will power as shown — 
I. In the control of one's Soul 
in anger, fear, indolence. 
II. Control in such acts as an- 
alyzing, classifying, crit- 
icism, " getting a bird's 
eye view." 

III. Keeping one's mental bal- 

ance in unaccustomed 
situations. 

IV. Control under temptation. 
In subordinating one's self. 

V. Concentration. Reasoning. 
Thinking, in the sense of a 
host of mental actions, 
not possible to be in- 
cluded under this or any 
one word. 
Art and Music. 



With the emotions there comes a set often con- 
demned as wrong when it is only the object upon 
which they are expended that can ever be objected 
to. These are indignation, contempt, hatred, fear, 
all of which have their proper places in the Ego's 

62 



SECOND SET OF POWERS 63 

range of emotions. The Soul that cannot rise to a 
white heat of indignation, or feel the keenest con- 
tempt, on occasion, is a weak Soul, not a good one. 

These second powers mark the height to which 
man has risen above his first animal nature. None 
of these powers are possible to the animal, except- 
ing certain of the emotions and, in rare instances, 
some signs of the ability to reason. 

It will not be possible, in this small space, to con- 
sider each one of this set in detail. Certain ones only 
will receive attention or serve as illustrations in 
different parts of the study. 

Inspiration will be the only power touched upon to 
any extent, in this volume. The treatment of this 
power will be based upon the conviction that any 
capacity once possessed by the Soul was inherent 
in all, and intended to be cultivated instead of lost. 
Since this power does not exist to-day, it is neces- 
sary to ask by what means it became lost. 

A careful study will be made of inspiration then 
with the object of defining its meaning, the condi- 
tions which surrounded its exercise in the youth of 
the race, and the environment and training which 
might recover it. Whatever will throw light upon 
inspiration will explain the means for cultivating 
the rest of the second set. 

Thinking is one of the most interesting of this 
set, but it is too complicated an action of the Soul 
to be presented at this stage. It will be referred to 
only in two or three instances, but without any 
attempt to keep to its exact meaning. The word 
at present stands for too many mental processes but 



64 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

it will not be necessary to make fine distinctions 
just at this point. 

There will be noticed in this list, the same readi- 
ness to divide in such a way, as to show the Soul in 
the act of receiving impressions and sending out 
commands. The entities sensed and controlled, 
however, are very different from those in the first 
set. 

In this second class, the Soul is now coming in 
contact with things which are ethereal, abstract, 
not self-evident ; as when it is asked to take note of 
the subtle meanings and relations in art, ethics, 
logic, human rights. Whatever man cannot be- 
come conscious of through the physical nerves 
becomes the concern of this second set of powers. 
It may have been this fact that suggested to 
humanity the idea of " soul nerves." * This idea is 
carried out on the motor side also, where the con- 
trol is now expended upon Soul itself — one's own 
Soul — instead of upon muscle. 

RELATION OF THE SENSORY SET TO PRACTICAL 

LIFE 

At first sight, this list of powers may fail to 
arouse interest with many, because of the habit of 
associating them with mind instead of Soul. This 
would naturally lessen an appreciation of their im- 
portance. They have a practical value, however, 
that should arouse an interest in their origin and in 

1 But if these are the soul nerves, it is lamentable to realize what 
a small proportion of humanity possesses them ; also, among how 
few they have attained the height of perfection that seems possible. 



SECOND SET OF POWEKS 65 

the way that the impressions come to the Ego. 
There is also another value, not so readily recog- 
nized ; but the practical one will be taken up first. 

The practical value lies in the fact that these 
second powers can bring the Ego in close relation 
with this workaday world and show what it has 
to do with making it a success. This fact can be 
best revealed through some illustrations that will 
make still plainer the difference between this devel- 
opment, and that which was due entirety to the 
physical nerves. 

The sensory half of this set means also a kind of 
seeing; but there is a marked difference in the 
classes of seeing. The difference is the same as 
that between looking at some material object, and 
studying over an opinion, a problem in mathematics 
or a plan of action in difficult situations. 

Efficiency in both directions is very necessary ; 
but the difference between the classes of efficiency 
makes the difference between the animal and the man. 
An animal of even a very low grade can see with 
physical eyes ; but it cannot discern the abstract, 
in the shape of ideas and opinions, relations, etc. 

The homely expression " to get a bird's eye view," 
is being constantly illustrated on the material plain, 
by the landscape gardener, the civil engineer and 
the general in battles. True, the relations each is 
seeking, are ethereal, but they are between material 
things. In the second class of powers, however, this 
capacity to get a bird's eye view would be exercised 
upon mental and moral situations and crises instead 
of upon material conditions. In such situations, it 



66 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

is just as necessary to see every detail, and the rela- 
tive importance of each, in order to use judgment 
in coming to a decision, as in the first. 

A prompt decision is often the key to success and 
the inability to make it, the cause of failure. But 
if the situation is imperfectly understood, an intelli- 
gent decision cannot be made. This result is not 
reached by getting above the subject as in dealing 
with material things ; the Soul's act is a different 
one, but the result is the same as getting a wider 
view. 

One capacity of this second class which is often 
missing is the ability to see the relation between 
a cause and an effect ; sometimes, even, there is no 
ability to realize that there must be a cause for 
every effect. This defect is a most serious one, and 
it is a defect of the Soul. 

How is any one to set about removing any ob- 
jectionable condition, in the right way, without 
some idea of the cause that is to be attacked ? 

There may be some objections to having the Soul 
put to such practical uses, as would be implied in 
these cases ; but we have no authority for believing 
that this Soul was only meant for use in a future 
life. Meanwhile, humanity is failing to make the 
most of this life for want of characteristics, which 
neither the religionist nor the educator sees the re- 
sponsibility of cultivating. If it could be proved 
then that the absence of any of these second powers 
meant a defect of the Soul instead of mind only, 
perhaps their immediate cultivation would be looked 
after more critically. 



SECOND SET OF POWEKS 67 

When this sensitiveness to abstract entities and 
invisible conditions is absent in man, plans go awry, 
or the crisis is not met, or the impression not made, 
upon which depended gravest issues. 

But saddest of all, sometimes the reason for these 
failures is often the most unseen of all the condi- 
tions. The sufferer rarely knows that they come 
because his Soul has had none of the fine training 
which would have developed the capacity to be con- 
scious of and to control ethereal conditions as well 
as material ones. 

There are other defects of the Ego, as serious, 
though they may not interfere with material suc- 
cess so much. But if one is blind, it is the fact that 
is vital ; the way in which the fact is revealed, is of 
secondary importance. 

ILLUSTRATIONS OF DEFECTIVE SECOND POWERS 

This blindness is further revealed by the inability 
to recognize the good in those one dislikes ; the de- 
fects in one's own nature ; the incapacity of others, 
through the glamour of position (when one's self 
is not disturbed) ; shadings in human nature below 
the superficial; the less evident rights of others, 
and one's own share in producing unhappy con- 
ditions. 

These defects have their counterparts upon the 
first plane, which are considered unpardonable. 
Who forgives a crude taste in color in another's 
dressing ? What is more severely scored than a 
defective musical taste or a defective ear for tune 
and time ; what is worse than a lack of style, of 



63 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

manners, etc. ? And yet the defects upon the 
higher plane of the second set of powers have ex- 
actly the same root with all these. Both mean 
that one's Soul has not been trained in the ca- 
pacity to look closely and to appreciate keenly. 

Without actual training, exercise, it is impossible 
to discern " minute variations of shade," " subtle 
distinctions in meanings " and " a nicety in point of 
morals." It is possible also, that there may be a 
connection between this sensitiveness toa" distinc- 
tion in meanings " and a distinction in morals. At 
least this is worth considering. It is also worth 
considering, that the beginning of the necessary 
exercise for creating discrimination, was due to the 
physical sensory nerves. 

It is a lack of training in detecting " minute 
shades " that has brought our country to where its 
unit of value is bigness. Bigness of fortunes, repu- 
tations, undertakings, expenditure, decorations; as 
when hundreds of dollars are spent on the flowers 
for one occasion when perhaps the exquisite per- 
fection of even one would not be appreciated. In 
this definition of value, " the small, sweet savors " 
of life are losing all chance to get recognition. 
This fine discrimination is the hall mark of the 
presence of the second powers in some degree of 
perfection. When this discrimination is absent, it is 
assumed that this was unavoidable, (in any abstract 
discussion.) I think it could be proved, however, 
that in the majority of cases, its absence is due only 
to environment and defective education. 



CHAPTER IX 

MOTOR HALF OF SECOND POWERS — RELATION TO 
TO-DAY'S PROBLEMS — WHY DETERIORATE? — 
OBSTACLES TO BE REMOVED 

The differences between the first and second 
powers are just as great on the motor side. For 
instance, to arrest the body when it is running 
down hill or into danger, is a very different affair 
from arresting the soul when it is yielding to a fit 
of anger, or to the expression of an unjust criticism, 
or refusing to pin itself down to some necessary 
line of thought. 

Even when displaying self-control in a fit of 
anger, there are distinctions to be made. A person 
restrains the hand that longs to strike, or goes 
farther and restrains the anger itself. In the 
first case, the force with which the Soul re- 
strained the hand goes down the motor nerve, 
which is one characteristic of the first set of powers. 
In the second case, it would be most interesting to 
discover how the force was carried. 

Again, the second powers are coming into play 
when the Ego is restrained from forming an opinion 
until all the evidence is in ; or from forming it with 
such vehemence that it cannot be changed under 
different conditions. Also they are being demon- 
strated when one is able to hold to a point in a 

69 



TO A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

question of rights, even when one's own interests 
are sacrificed ; and conversely, able not to carry 
such an attitude to the point of being sentimental 
which means weakness. The ability to recognize 
the justice of a movement, condition, truth, no mat- 
ter what suffering it is causing, is one of the sever- 
est feats that can be asked in this connection. 

The capacity which is the most difficult of all to 
acquire in this set, is concentration, — the ability to 
hold the attention pinned down to some abstract 
subject as long and as steadily as is necessary. One 
can discover how much of this ability he possesses 
by promising himself to think upon some unaccus- 
tomed subject by the watch, for fifteen minutes. 
Then count the number of other subjects the mind 
has touched upon during the time. 

All these cases mean an intense exercise of the 
will, which is a possession of the Soul. A very con- 
scientious writer declares that " The effort of the 
will manifests itself, onlv through the muscular ac- 
tivities. v But the muscles have certainly nothing 
whatever to do with revealing the act of the will 
in these instances just given. It is the absence of 
the use of these physical muscles, that helps reveal 
the distinction between the first and second class of 
powers. These physical muscles would be a very 
clumsy means for controlling circumstances in un- 
expected emergencies, or in seizing and holding an 
opportunity, before it has gone forever. 

An opportunity is one of the most ethereal, in- 
tangible of entities, though real as a granite block 
— while it lasts. To see and seize such an ethereal 



MOTOE HALF OF SECOND POWERS 71 

thing does not require physical eyes and hands ; 
but it does need ability to discern and control. 
This means the same class of perception and 
strength that is used in dealing with Soul itself, 
and with material objects. And yet, how much of 
opportunity is lost, just for want of the cultivation 
of this quick seeing and grasping power. How 
often when just too late, we see the opportunity, 
great or small, vanishing forever. 

RELATION OF SECOND SET TO THE PROBLEMS OF 

TO-DAY 

It is a significant fact now that the problems 
which are assailing the more advanced people of 
to-day, are of this ethereal nature; they are not 
concerned only with the material needs and diffi- 
culties of existence, as in the primitive days of the 
race. Now, even when the problem is how to get 
bread and butter, one must often think it out. This 
is a vastly different affair from taking the club or 
spear or bow and arrow and going out to get the 
meat which stood for bread and butter. 

(There is a great majority that would still prefer 
the old way, because almost any occupation is easier 
than thinking when the art has not been gained 
through practice. But these natures make a crush- 
ing burden for those to carry whose only attainable 
means consist in thinking.) 

The difficulties to be removed to-day are more 
unmanageable than even the wild beasts and hunger 
and cold of the primitive days. Those called for 
and educated the nerves — both sets — to a high pitch 



72 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

of perfection. To-day, we have to wrestle with 
the subtle characteristics of humanity ; its wrong 
opinions, — worse than any wild beast — its tempta- 
tions ; its emotions, which demand a register that 
extends rapidly with every generation. 

It is stating the self-evident, to say that such con- 
ditions are only to be controlled by mental or Soul 
strength ; and yet, how little thinking is being done 
over them, even by those who suffer the most. The 
problems and conditions of life are due mainly to 
neglect in cultivating the will and reasoning powers. 
To manage life to-day, one needs to train this sec- 
ond class of the powers, most rigorously. The prob- 
lems of life multiply with each generation and we 
need to be cultivating a species of strength that 
shall be mightier than that of muscle, money or in- 
fluence. Soul strength, that is. 

Every step into the future means the multiplying 
of opportunities for good and evil ; of obscure hu- 
man characteristics ; of new ideals, that will clash 
more and more. Newer methods are needed for 
these conditions, which are practically a new world 
where old standards no longer avail. It is as though, 
having learned the lesson in one sphere of life, hu- 
manity was asked to step up higher and take a 
broader view. Then it is found that the conven- 
tional standards which did well enough for simpler 
or cruder conditions, must be pruned, reconstructed, 
added to in order to meet a newer set. 

These changed conditions into which humanity is 
being constantly pushed, without preparation, are 
of every grade. It may be only the entrance into 



MOTOR HALF OF SECOND POWERS 73 

society of a man or a woman who knows nothing 
of its rules and conventions ; or it may be the step- 
ping into positions of great responsibility for which 
one is too utterly unfitted even to recognize the 
fact. It should bo evident then, that something 
more is necessary for such situations than cultivat- 
ing the sense of duty. The strongest sense of duty 
does not cultivate the eyes to see, where the right 
or rights are not those with which humanity has 
been long familiar. 

As the race advances, naturally the rights and 
needs become more those of the Soul than of the 
body ; but though these rights are very real, they 
are not to be seen by the superficial observer. The 
sense of duty then, without the power to recognize 
duty, under even the newest conditions, is not suffi- 
cient, to-day. The religionist now needs to be 
quite as much concerned with cultivating the Soul's 
ability to see, as to feel or to act. 

In the practical use of these second powers the 
conditions to be recognized in our daily relations to 
life and humanity, were pointed out, with some 
thoroughness. These same powers are needed how- 
ever, in many less evident situations, w T here it is 
necessary to become conscious of the difficulties 
which interfere with the needs of the Soul, rather 
than with material success only. 

While many are often unconscious of these more 
ethereal needs, their absence or neglect creates an 
abiding discomfort, the cause of which is often un- 
suspected. The time has arrived, however, when it 
is really necessary for the race to be able to split 



74 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL . 

hairs, and it would seem that if the extreme capac- 
ity of inspiration existed in the earliest ages, this 
lesser capacity to use at least the greatest discrim- 
ination, ought to be a most general one to-day. 

Humanity has had long and harrowing experi- 
ence with bodily needs ; even the animal has 
learned the lesson of recognizing many of these 
perfectly ; but advancing intelligence is not perfect- 
ing a general capacity to recognize the more ethereal 
needs of the Soul ; those which cannot be supplied 
with money. For money cannot command condi- 
tions which have not yet been created. 

WHY DETEKIORATE? 

It is just this ability to use the finest discrimina- 
tion and strength in dealing with the subtlest ques- 
tions of right and rights that is meant by the pos- 
session of the second powers. All are concerned 
then in discovering why insight, intuition, imagina- 
tion are so lacking to-day, when so great a capacity 
as inspiration once existed. 

Does this mean perhaps that the race has really 
deteriorated in some things? And is one of the 
characteristics which has been lost, this ability to 
be conscious of something besides what can be seen, 
heard, tasted ? That is, are the " soul nerves " de- 
teriorating, just as the physical ones are ? And is 
such a loss one to be accepted calmly as the physical 
incapacity is being accepted ? 

These sensory nerves are fast losing the high rate 
of capacity they possessed a century ago. With 
this loss, the Ego is being deprived of part of its 



MOTOR HALF OF SECOND POWERS 75 

means for exercise and deterioration would be a 
natural consequence. 

Deterioration of soul means but one thing ; the 
inability to recognize what is the right thing to do, 
under any circumstances, and to do the right thing 
when it is recognized. The terms for this first ca- 
pacity of recognition, are intuition, insight, imagi- 
nation, inspiration. The term "spiritual" is used 
when ethical truth alone is being considered ; but 
it is a great mistake to limit the Soul's needs to 
ethical truths alone. We see the result of this mis- 
take, on all hands. 

In the same way, it may not be correct to limit 
the idea of inspiration to ethical truth alone. In- 
spiration may be the same capacity as intuition and 
insight, but exerted upon a different, more ethereal 
set of entities. It may also be a duty of the pres- 
ent then to ask why this power, once possessed by 
the race, should become lost to it. 

It is not logical to suppose that a capacity once 
possessed by Soul was intended to be lost. It is 
neither logical nor reverent to assume that this 
power was meant to be possessed only by a select 
few, instead of by all humanity when it understood 
and obeyed the laws governing the development of 
Soul. But humanity has thought it better to im- 
pute to a divine Being, this human attribute of 
partiality than to seek for other causes for the 
defects of the race. Ignorance of the laws gov- 
erning the development of the Soul, are more than 
enough to account for all the degradation which 
exists. 



76 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

INSPIRATION 

A search for the meaning of inspiration then and 
for the conditions which would destroy it may at 
least suggest ways to make the rest of the second 
set more general. This search will be taken up for 
this purpose ; but before beginning, it will be neces- 
sary to consider one well-known tradition, which if 
true, would destroy the reasonableness of any argu- 
ment that might be offered upon this subject. 

This tradition, which is really believed by many, 
declares that " there is nothing new under the sun." 
It seems strange that it should be necessary to as- 
sert in this twentieth century that the new truths 
waiting to be discovered, are as the stars in the 
firmament ; but there cannot be even an interest in 
inspiration, if there remains nothing new to be dis- 
covered by such a capacity. 1 The one who coined 
the phrase must have meant nothing new to an 
omniscient Being, but the careless interpretation 

1 This word inspiration is not intended to include a certain class 
of mental action going by the name to-day. I refer to the posses- 
sion of a mass of inherited ideas, which the possessor does not 
recognize as belonging to the general stock, already^ discovered. If 
one is not a broad reader, or intimately associated with many 
classes of ideas, and knows nothing of the subconsciousness it is 
very natural, as these inherited ideas unfold themselves, to think 
they are due to inspiration. This is not what is meant by the ex- 
pression. 

Also, this search is not an attempt to prove that this power ex- 
ists to-day ; but only to suggest what might be the result of under- 
standing the laws governing the human Soul. Inspiration would 
mean an exercise in receptiveness, that seems at present entirely 
impossible for any Soul on this planet. 



MOTOK HALF OF SECOND POWEES 77 

permitted, suits better the requirements of the pre- 
vailing inertia. 

These new truths are never to be discovered by- 
poring over what has been already said but by seek- 
ing always new points of view. The new points of 
view meant to be taken are numbered by the human 
Souls that can think ; and all Souls can be taught 
to do some thinking, if taken in time, and in the 
right way. 

Truth of every kind is one of the most important 
entities of the universe. It is a most serious matter 
then to belittle it in any way ; but truth must be a 
small affair indeed, if it is to be all discovered in 
even a century of thinking, much less by a dozen or 
more individuals. The harm done by carelessly 
passing this tradition along from generation to 
generation, without carefully making its true mean- 
ing understood, is immeasurable. It has shut out 
from mankind, unnumbered influences which could 
have been having effect, through all these centuries, 
or kept them starved on truths so mixed with finite 
error, that it was impossible for these to become the 
antidote they were meant to be. 

Every difficulty or problem is to be settled by 
thinking, and the most important duty of education 
is to teach this difficult art. Behind every act, 
whether a new one or a habit, and performed with 
whatever means, there was first a thought — good 
or bad. Every wrong condition is due to the ab- 
sence of the thought which would influence the 
situation exactly and convincingly. Often, each 
situation needs a thought exactly suited to its in- 



78 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

dividual needs ; and numbers of such have never 
yet had a chance for expression. It will take the 
keenest of eyes to discover the hidden root of this 
anxiety of many to prove that there cannot be an 
addition to the sum of truth so far discovered. 



CHAPTER X 

THE EXTENT OF TRUTH 

EFFECT OF BELITTLING THIS EXTENT — THE NEED 
FOR TRUTHS EXACTLY SUITED TO MODERN 
PROBLEMS 

The meaning of the word truth, in this connec- 
tion, needs to be defined. It is used in its broadest 
sense, to cover not only spiritual truth but the sci- 
entific, artistic and economic and also existing con- 
ditions and facts. Whatever can prove a solace, a 
help, or a clean inspiration to any human being, is 
in the nature of a truth ; many a plan of education 
and reform fails because of the disposition to limit 
the human Soul to one class of thought. 

In all these directions, however, there is the self- 
evident truth, which even very primitive natures 
can grasp, and beyond this, truths more and more 
subtle, and requiring finer and severer training to 
be appreciated. 

Naturally, in the earlier days, only the few would 
discern even the self-evident truths ;. but progress 
should mean a growing ability to see more clearly. 
What the few saw at first without assistance, all 
should see to-day, also without assistance. In ad- 

79 



80 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

dition, they should become steadily conscious of the 
more subtle truths. 

This would have been the case, had conditions 
been favorable through all the ages of develop- 
ment; but this was impossible at first. Inconse- 
quence, there seems to be now a great majority 
that finds the self-evident truths all it can manage. 

But this defect does not really exist. It is due 
merely to a habit of inertia born of this tradition 
and the determination to keep the attention centred 
upon the past instead of upon the present and future. 
There seems to be an idea that to-day the race can 
only live off of the thinking of others, though in its 
earlier times it could do its own thinking. 

It is the greatest misfortune when any one who 
is capable of seeing more deeply and clearly is kept 
tied down to the limit of the primitive mind, be- 
cause " there is nothing new under the sun." It is 
doubtful if any one enters life to-day, in an educated 
community, without some ability to go beyond 
the thinkers of the past ; but persistent lack of exer- 
cise will finally destroy any ability, or at least bury 
it beyond recognition. 

This, and many other deplorable results are only 
to be removed by destroying this illogical belief 
that in any direction, all has been said, or will ever 
be said. There will always be a word yet to be 
uttered, and, in every finite statement, there will 
always be some error or inefficiency to be removed. 
But this will not be discovered by those who study 
only the old, instead of turning a listening ear to 
what the universe has yet to tell. 



THE EXTENT OF TRUTH 81 

NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN 

Imagine for a moment that the universal truth, is 
like some endless web of tapestry or some mighty 
mosaic, which like space, has no limit. Consider 
that life is for the purpose of enabling the human 
race to make a copy of the tapestry or mosaic, each 
one adding a stitch or tiny stone to this copy, as 
the generations pass. Here and there has been put 
in a stitch or placed a stone (some pure gems, the 
most common pebbles). But all are too far apart 
in this immensity to even give a hint of the rela- 
tionship existing between all truths and enhancing 
their meaning. 

And yet, there are those who imagine that the 
work has all been done, the picture completed, with 
not one little place left for a later contribution. 
If then the ground has been already gone over and 
over until there is nothing left for the most eager 
eyes, what incentive exists to seek for truth suited to 
the needs of to day ? What is there for the starved 
Ego to do but to hunt laboriously for new turns of 
expression, new combinations of words that may 
add a touch of originality to ideas that have been 
expressed over and over again ? And yet man 
talks of omniscience ; have we then attained to it ? 

Discoveries in the material world are not treated 
in this way. When a traveller returns and tells his 
tale, he is not discredited. No one is surprised that 
Nature at least should have something to tell to 
each traveller, because there seems to be no end to 
her marvels. No two roads are alike with her, 
even upon the same hour of the same day; and 



82 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

there are twenty -four hours in the day and three 
hundred and sixty-five days in the year, with just 
that many opportunities for different aspects. Also, 
the earth's heart is growing colder, and the inclina- 
tion of her axis is varying constantly. The won- 
der, is that there are so few new discoveries, beyond 
the self-evident. 

But all this is infinitely truer in the domain of 
abstract ideas. Stretching a little way into this 
domain, there is a broad and beaten down highway, 
in which humanity has lazily sunned itself for cen- 
turies with its back turned always to the present 
and future. (Which is why many are unable to 
manage life to-day.) Stretching away from this, in 
both directions, is an untrodden domain. We have 
no reason to believe that this domain can have 
limits. There must be always new thoughts to 
come, which are detached from all that has gone 
before, because they have their roots not in what 
man has said, but in what the universe is saying 
every moment of life. Each thought suggests an- 
other that is intimately related ; but in this limit- 
less domain there must be spaces so remote from 
all present human thinking that what is already 
gained, could not possibly suggest a relation. 

The relation is there of course ; but too ethereal 
to be discovered by any eyes at present. A thought 
in these remote spaces then would have to be first 
suggested by the force of the truth itself, beat- 
ing upon the Soul ready to receive it ; or it would 
have to be struck out by some personal experience. 
When one is able to get below the superficial phases 



THE EXTENT OF TRUTH 83 

of human nature, it will be recognized that the more 
humanity advances in individuality, the more it is 
impossible for any experience, however common, to 
affect any two in exactly the same way ; but the 
superficial person will never discover this. 

When a thought is revealed in this way, a new 
group is formed to which all can begin to add. 
Several such groups have been formed in the last 
centur}', originated, not by their relation to some- 
thing already known but by a patient study of some 
one star in the universe of truth. But there will 
always be devoted worshippers of some idol to insist 
that each thought was foreshadowed by him long 
ago. 

EFFECT OF BELITTLING THIS EXTENT 

Not only is this practice constantly belittling the 
truth, which is an attribute of divinity, but it is 
shutting out from humanity, ideas for which they 
are suffering every hour. What these devoted 
worshippers of individuals of the past gain by this 
act of injustice, it would be hard to tell. Each 
truth, idea, is needed long before it is disseminated. 
With every generation, the individuality of the race 
develops more and more. This creates intricate sit- 
uations and questions unknown before and these 
call for new views which would demand a careful 
reconstruction of standards and valuations. 

And yet, there actually exists a sense of indigna- 
tion towards those who cannot be satisfied with 
what meets the needs of others : a feeling that a 
human soul, the " masterpiece " of the only Creator, 



84 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

is presuming, in asking for something different 
from the conventional, though there is this endless 
domain of truth that is able to meet the most 
individual need of the humblest being. 

" Even the sparrow cannot fall." 

The attempt to-day to settle individual cases with 
the proverbs and traditions which did for more 
primitive conditions, is often as brutal as a slap in 
the face. And yet how often in most complex 
cases, leaders seem to have nothing to offer but 
such proverbs and traditions. 

I think this situation points unerringly to but 
one unavoidable conclusion. Each individual, who 
is able, must begin to do his own thinking; and 
this necessitates a sensitiveness to the ethereal, the 
abstract, which is implied in the term inspira- 
tion. 

The assistance of some such capacity as inspira- 
tion is necessary, although thinking is an act of the 
reasoning powers, because these powers must have 
data upon which to be exercised. But to-day there 
are questions waiting to be settled, or coming up, 
which cannot depend upon the data already in 
man's possession. 

THE NEED FOR TRUTHS EXACTLY SUITED TO 
MODERN PROBLEMS 

There is a call then for new truths, from which 
to reason. Without doubt, an omniscient Being, 
has provided truths for the settling of every prob- 
lem or question coming to the race as it advances. 
Since only a fraction of the human race is being 



THE EXTENT OF TRUTH 85 

lifted from degradation, it must be that the leaders 
are not calling upon this reserve force. When even 
one individual of this century speaks of the neces- 
sity of going " to the rescue of Christian civiliza- 
tion with the sword " it is time to question human 
interpretations and seek to receive from the original 
Source alone, as certain ones did in the early days 
of the race. 

True, this would require the most careful and 
individual training in the second class of powers, 
and in the scientific spirit, also. But this training 
is sadly needed to-day even in the act of listening 
to and obeying one's own conscience. It was con- 
science, we must remember, that caused all the 
persecutions of one religious sect by the other, and 
inconsistencies as monstrous are in existence to-day. 
These can only be removed by the coming of a 
truth unknown before ; one that can startle like a 
thunderclap, and make it impossible ever to settle 
back into the present lethargy towards so many 
subjects. 

If then there is this vast realm of truth only 
waiting for discovery as it is needed, and if the 
Soul ever possessed the power to discern for itself, 
as is claimed for the earlier days, this capacity 
should be receiving the closest attention, from both 
religionist and educator. 



CHAPTER XI 

INSPIRATION 

PRIMITIVE CONDITIONS WHICH FAVORED THIS 
POWER — CONDITIONS UNFAVORABLE TO IT — 
FIRST INSTANCES — REMEDY SUGGESTED BY 
TERM " SOUL NERVES " 

The primitive meaning of the term inspiration 
was that at some remote time in the race's history, 
God spoke to certain ones of His people, from out 
the clouds or a flaming bush, as it might be, defining 
the law of right. "With the majority who think 
upon the subject to-day, the belief in the physical 
presence and voice has gone. There still remains, 
however, the belief in some personal and infallible 
messages of truth and right, which came to certain 
favored ones of the race. That is, these messages 
were supposed to come from no human source in 
the way of books or oral instruction; or by any 
means that would now be called natural. The 
only difference between the first and last interpre- 
tation of inspiration is that the element of a visible 
or audible divine Presence has been dropped. 

As time passes there come to be more and more 
of those who cannot accept their neighbor's con- 
ception of divinity, yet who fail to evolve one of 
their own. Presently, these give up altogether the 

86 



INSPIRATION 87 

idea of a Cause, but do not realize that even in giv- 
ing up the divine origin, this does not remove the 
question of inspiration, — the means by which the 
Soul gained knowledge of the abstract, before the 
coming of books or oral instruction. 

There are still the eternal verities of the universe 
to be accounted for. No one can deny the exist- 
ence of these, and man does acquire gradual knowl- 
edge of their existence. "Whoever then accepts 
that most modern of all theories — evolution — must 
consider closely the oldest of all — inspiration. 

PRIMITIVE CONDITIONS WHICH FAVORED THE 

POWER 

Every one realizes that there was a time when 
books had never been dreamed of; when even 
papyrus rolls were unknown and oral instruction, 
impossible. And yet, into the depths of this 
absence of everything that we consider opportunity, 
there came the first thoughts upon subjects. Hazy 
and imperfect these thoughts must have been ; but 
the way of their coining, is one of the most impor- 
tant of all humanity's concerns. 

In those remotest days of the race, (the " past " 
which really concerns us), man had but one way of 
gaining knowledge ; a way that has become obso- 
lete with many ; that is through thinking. In those 
old days when there were no books to read and no 
people to listen to, if man wanted to know any- 
thing of the great mysteries of life, there was noth- 
ing to do but sit and listen and look and question 
the universe. Even the reasoning powers could not 



88 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

come into play at first, because these must have 
some defined data to be exercised upon. But there 
was a time when no such data existed in the human 



consciousness 



1 



In those days, there was every advantage for the 
intensest listening and looking. Mankind was 
alone with nature then. There was no influence 
to interfere with even the faintest impressions from 
an ethereal source which might be coming. There 
was nothing, in fact, but time, the universe above, 
the earth beneath and the ether, with its countless 
messages. Then, man tended his flocks on hillside 
and vale, in the silence of space and in the presence 
of dangers that keyed all his strength and his senses 
to their highest pitch of capacity. Then, ideas came 
to him which could have had no human origin, and 
that was inspiration. But it dealt with the laws of 
Nature, far more than with laws of right living. 

Knowledge of right and wrong will come in 
time through experience in suffering from injustice. 

1 There is of course the theory that all truth is a part of the hu- 
man Soul and is evolved as the human race is evolved. Such a 
theory should not be advanced, however, until the older one of a 
separate source has been threshed out and winnowed most thor- 
oughly. There may lie a century of thinking between these two 
theories of the source of truth. So far, the first one has not been 
threshed out at all. Humanity has simply mistaken finite inter- 
pretations and conceptions for the truth itself, and when these 
could no longer be accepted, assumed that the reality did not exist. 

Something will have to be done with the material world and the 
laws which govern it, before it can be asserted that there is no 
origin for truth but the human Soul. It can hardly be asserted 
that the Soul evolved this material universe, or its laws, which 
form part of the universal truth. 



INSPIRATION 89 

A very ignorant person who has suffered in this 
way, will presently learn that certain acts are 
wrong when turned against himself ; and finally, 
though much later, he will see that they are wrong 
when others are the sufferers. 

This evolution may have begun, long before man 
commenced to ask questions of the universe. 
Doubtless the very first step out of the animal con- 
dition was the aroused sense of injustice. This, 
however, is not what is meant by inspiration. 

The first record we have of this power deals with 
the creation in the first chapters of Genesis. In 
those pages are glimpsed the facts which underlie 
the latest theory of the creation — the nebular hy- 
pothesis. Personal experience could have much to 
do with developing ethical laws ; but at that stage 
of life, it could have had nothing to do with sug- 
gesting the ideas recorded in Genesis. One might 
study the heavens forever, w T ith no more data than 
man possessed at first, and gain no hint of a past 
when a mighty chaos reigned supreme. We have 
knowledge of only two sources from which this im- 
pression could have come at that time, and we must 
argue from known premises. These two sources 
are — 

I. Truth itself, in the mind of a Divinity, or ex- 
isting as a force. 

II. A memory, personal or inherited. 

This latter idea has a right to attention, of course, 
because it must be recognized that if Soul has lived 
forever, it was a constituent part of this chaos, and 
might well retain a latent impression of the condi- 



90 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

tion. But it is well to exhaust the question of in- 
spiration, before beginning upon such subjects. 

Inspiration means first impressions which have 
not been inherited, acquired or added to by either 
experience or the knowledge of some one else. This 
would mean some inherent capacity of the Soul to 
receive impressions from ethereal conditions, when 
circumstances are favorable. 

The most telling argument for the existence of 
this power in the race is this glimpse of a formless 
void, and a " beginning " out of which there came 
the perfected arrangement spread before these peo- 
ple of the early days. "Why should they have im- 
agined a " beginning " at all ? Again, it was a ques- 
tion of science, instead of ethics, which evolved the 
creation in the garden of Eden. When we remem- 
ber how little interest the theory of evolution 
arouses to-day, except with the scientist and a few 
others, one wonders why those remote ages should 
have imagined a time when man had not existed on 
the globe. 

Those days, it must be remembered, came long, 
long before the different books of the Bible were 
even written : the ideas themselves were handed 
down by word of mouth at first. Also, it was long 
after these books were written, before they were 
gathered into their present form. Those to whom 
the ideas of the creation first came then to be im- 
proved and collected long after in Genesis, may 
have dressed in skins and lived in caves. 

But " there were giants in those days " indeed — 
giants in intellect ; for thinking is not to be meas- 



INSPIRATION 91 

ured by the work turned out, but by the difficulties 
to be overcome in the effort. Often the result is 
the least important thing about the act. 

Thinking means first, intense looking to find rela- 
tions between what one sees, and is the natural ex- 
ercise of the human soul. In youth, the child takes 
to this exercise with delight, and this was the case 
in the youth of the race. Then, man with his 
primitive brain, thought and thought; stumbling 
blindly and with pitiful heroism among the shades 
of angry gods which growled in the thunder and 
shot swift vengeance in the lightning. They groped 
unceasingly, until they found a fragment of shelter, 
in various crude beliefs, the crudeness marking their 
desperation. 

As time passed, and their strength increased, they 
developed the idea of one God ; the ten command- 
ments ; tracked the planets through space ; imagined 
the constellations (was there ever a grander feat of 
the imagination !) and set in motion the ideas upon 
which the old philosophers, and the later "old 
masters " have based the most of their work. (It 
must be acknowledged that the contribution of the 
"old masters" has been in the art of expression 
mainly, not in original ideas.) 

The courage, the heroism, the mighty vitality of 
those primitive thinkers, anxious to be up and do- 
ing, instead of merely absorbing should never be 
lost sight of for a moment in education. It would 
not have been lost sight of for long, had the reli- 
gionist kept to the original plan of studying God 
through His works, instead of spending energy in 



92 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

formulating and fighting over creeds. The greatest 
of these works was this human Soul. What a field 
it would have proved in which to seek for the cause 
of any lost capacity ! 

CONDITIONS UNFAVORABLE TO INSPIRATION 

But it is just here that the greatest of mistakes 
has been made — in calling sensitiveness to truth a 
supernatural power, meant only for the select few. 
Naturally this would prevent any interest in reviv- 
ing or perpetuating the capacity, and this indiffer- 
ence would extend even to the cultivation of intui- 
tion or imagination. 

Educational methods are far from perfect. But 
instead of attributing to these the absence of these 
last capacities, it is the custom to make disparaging 
comparisons between this present and the past. 

There is to-day ample provision for cultivating at 
least imagination and intuition. When it is not 
done, it is educational methods that should be 
criticised — not defective Souls. This mistake is one 
that has done much towards keeping man the slave 
of circumstances which is too often his fate. It is 
by original thinking that the human Soul grows 
into its strength. 

Education then should fix the attention upon all 
such magnificent efforts as were made in those 
ancient days, and incite the student to do likewise. 
Instead, the opposite course is taken. This effort, 
which meant the instinct to think and express, is 
often ignored, and attention is centred mainly upon 
the art of expressing the thoughts of others. 



INSPIRATION 93 

With each generation, this method is arresting 
the vitality with which the average soul enters this 
life. It is the instinct of the Ego, at first, to think 
and express. The little child is in a perpetual 
quiver with the vitality of this instinct. He is 
never tired of telling — when he can find a listener 
— of what he has seen and what he thinks about it. 
But it is not the way in which the child tells of his 
thoughts that is of first importance ; it is this in- 
stinct to be thinking and telling. 

The case is a similar one to the interest in the 
young child's first attempts to walk. It is not the 
manner of walking, the wavering, ungraceful steps, 
that interests, but the splendid courage and de- 
termination the child is showing. 

The child gets very little of adverse criticism in 
his physical development. But this cannot be said 
of the race's education in the most important work 
of looking at the world with its own eyes, and ex- 
pressing its own thoughts in any and every medium. 

This unfortunate condition is due to some strange 
idea that the art of expression is furnished to human 
beings in order that they may cater to the pleasure 
of others, instead of as one more means for giving 
the Ego varied exercise. 

It is very plain that the race would deteriorate 
rapidly, if the exercise for its physical body were 
looked at in this way. If in addition, there existed 
the idea that when the manner of this exercise failed 
to please certain observers, it should cease alto- 
gether, the poor body would have left little chance 
for health or strength. 



94 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

But it is a far more serious matter to interfere 
with the development of the Soul ; and this is being 
done constantly by this determination to make the 
cause of truth wait upon the perpetuation of reputa- 
tions of past work or workers. Instead of inciting 
humanity to use all its capacity in a daily search for 
further truth to meet present demands, there is this 
constant effort to prove (in all domains but science) 
that all has been discovered and expressed. 

Naturally, the great majority cease looking. 
There is no longer that attitude of intense listening 
and questioning, that marked the childhood of the 
race, and that would undoubtedly bring some result, 
if resumed to-day. But when any capacity ceases 
to be exercised, it retrogrades and finally seems to 
become entirely lost ; as the physical senses of sight 
and hearing grow less keen with each generation, 
for lack of sufficient or proper exercise. 

It is quite possible that as life grew more com- 
plex, the race rapidly gave up this intense looking 
and questioning, which was, at first, perhaps its only 
recreation. Many unavoidable conditions contrib- 
uted in the past to destroy this interest in the undis- 
covered truths. But it is inexcusable that education 
should be assisting to destroy. Now the Soul is in 
the hands of religion and education, and its capaci- 
ties, both lost and possessed, should be most care- 
fully studied and cultivated. 

Truth exists to-day, just as in the past, and has 
the same power to impress itself. It is no longer 
scientific truth with which the Ego would now have 
to concern itself, but with every condition that 



INSPIRATION 95 

could not be detected through the sensory nerves. 
Every subject or condition with which insight and 
intuition deal, as well as every contested point in 
questions of right or human rights, needs to-day to 
be scrutinized from some new point of view. 

Even if we had not been told that the race pos- 
sessed a finer sensitiveness in this direction in its 
early days, humanity should be interested in this 
development, since even an animal can appreciate 
the material, often with greater keenness than man. 

If at one time truth could come to the race with- 
out the aid of books or oral instruction, there must 
have been well defined natural laws underlying the 
act, which humanity is at liberty to seek out. The 
use of the term " soul nerves," suggests a way to 
begin. 

REMEDY SUGGESTED BY TERM " SOUL NERVES " 

The loss of the receptivity characteristic of the 
childhood of the race, is strangely like the change 
from the receptivity of the individual child to the 
dull indifference of many adults. This latter change 
is due to a general habit of allowing one's interests 
to become more and more absorbed in the mere 
material issues of life. This gradually narrows the 
range of vision until even material interests cannot 
be looked after as they should be. As the range of 
vision is narrowed the exercise is shut out, which is 
as necessary for " soul nerves," if they exist, as for 
the physical. It must be remembered that these 
" soul nerves " may have also to go through an 
evolution from a mere speck of sensitiveness. If 



96 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

so they must be exercised upon ethereal, as well as 
material, entities. 

The term "soul nerves," will be useful in this 
search for causes that would interfere with the ca- 
pacity of inspiration : if once possessed, it must be 
one illustration of such nerves. 

The possibility of their existence then, their mean- 
ing, extent, methods for developing, should receive 
the closest attention. This attention is a serious 
duty, because of the many claims for the possession 
of inspiration being now made. These claims cannot 
possibly be substantiated, and there should be some 
provision made by which the majority can at least 
distinguish between the reasonable and the reverse. 
All should surely be able to recognize that they are 
depending only upon their own finite judgment 
when they conclude to accept the claims of any one 
to being inspired. In this acceptance they are really 
pronouncing their own judgment infallible, though 
it is the same factor which they condemn as worth- 
less in the one who refuses to accept. Perhaps the 
cultivation of " soul nerves " would make such facts 
more evident. 



CHAPTER XII 

" SOUL NERVES " 

COMPARISON OF THESE AND THE PHYSICAL — 
LOST EFFICIENCY — MISUSE OF TERMS — SUG- 
GESTIONS FOR CREATING EFFICIENCY — DE- 
FECTS OF EARLY TRAINING AND MEMORIZING 
— SOME DEDUCTIONS 

The term nerves implies the presence of a force 
to affect them. In the physical nerves, the forces 
are the material world without and the Soul within. 
" Soul nerves " then, would imply upon the sensory 
side, some force more ethereal than the material 
world, that was able to impress the fact of its ex- 
istence upon the Soul as light is able to impress its 
existence. 

As we are using the term in connection with the 
act of receiving truth, this requires a (temporary) 
consideration of truth as a force existing in some 
definite state. 

There are those who believe that spiritual truth 

exists in the consciousness of God ; though why 

only the spiritual, is an interesting question. There 

are those who believe that truth is inherent in the 

human Soul, and makes its existence known, only 

as this Soul develops. 1 

1 It is this view which causes the world to believe that the one 
who first announces a truth owns it, and that no one else could 
think the same thing except through taking it from the other and 
becoming a plagiarist. 

97 



98 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

For those who can accept neither view there 
seems to exist only the possibility that truth exists 
in space something as the force which controls the 
universe exists. If this were true, truth also might 
affect the ether as this force does and make another 
class of impressions upon the Soul. This idea, in- 
deed, need not interfere with the first, since a 
divine influence must have as practical a way of 
reaching the Soul, as light has. This would be 
merely following out the assumed correspondence 
between the physical and " finer body." 

It would be good exercise for unimaginative 
minds to look upon truth as a force absolutely free 
from error whose impressions man does not create 
but receives. In the truth itself there would be 
" neither variableness nor shadow of turning," but 
the clearness and correctness of the impressions 
would depend upon the receiving Soul. 

The first and last views would make the needed 
distinction between the real truth and human opin- 
ions upon any subject, and reveal that this truth was 
the only real " standard " by which any finite work 
or thought was to be measured. 

In assuming the existence of " soul nerves " one 
must agree to abide by the logical consequences 
while on the subject. Nothing will be gained from 
following out the idea unless one is willing also to 
follow out the assumed correspondence between the 
two sets of nerves. All the qualities, actions and 
necessities which are known to belong to the phys- 
ical ones, must be for the moment attributed to the 
ethereal ones. The result will be most interesting. 



"SOUL NERVES" 99 

Physical nerves are to be used in discerning ma- 
terial entities without arbitrary distinctions. One 
can make distinctions for themselves ; but none of 
these belong to these nerves. 

Soul nerves, naturally, must be for the purpose 
of sensing ethereal entities, and also without arbi- 
trary distinctions defined by the word " spiritual." 
That is, they should be used upon all such invisible, 
but real objects as plans, opinions, problems, ideas, 
motives, truths of all kinds, the abstract, as well as 
upon spiritual truths and conditions. All these 
make up as great a part of the scheme of living, as 
the material world. Success, in this life, at least 
requires that one be able to sense these ethereal ob- 
jects, and control them when necessary. 

LOST EFFICIENCY 

Now, if a child's eyes were kept bandaged from 
birth to old age and material things never seen, the 
power to see them would be lost. This is equally 
true of ethereal entities. If one never looks at the 
abstract in any form, thinks and talks only about 
material things, the Soul becomes blind even to 
" spiritual " truth though formulas may be repeated 
daily. 

The blindness reveals itself in many ways but 
notably in the inability to see and understand any 
obstacles (but material ones), that may be interfer- 
ing with success. These blind people have no idea 
that they are surrounded with invisible situations 
upon which the attention must be kept fixed, as 

the eyes would be kept upon a wild beast or a 
LofC. 



100 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

danger that was creeping upon them. There is no 
comprehension of conditions standing right at their 
side to be studied and removed. Instead, there is 
only the sense of discomfort or unhappiness and a 
knowledge of being unable to do as they wish. 

There was once a period like this in the evolution 
of the physical nerves when the organic life on the 
globe had little sense of the material causes which 
interfered ; but Nature was looking after this evo- 
lution, while the evolution of the soul nerves seems 
left in the hands of man. As a consequence, many 
go through life without ever realty seeing a truth 
or an idea, in the true sense of the word seeing. 
They memorize sentences which stand for truth as 
a blind man might sit in a dark room, and mem- 
orize a description of light ; but he would have 
gained no benefit from the light. 

This condition is not incompatible with many 
virtues ; but also, there are many situations in life, 
where the possession of all the virtues will not 
atone for inability to see the subtle conditions in 
situations of great responsibility. 

In many such cases it will be impossible to have 
the real conditions recognized by any means what- 
ever. If the person were physically blind, treat- 
ment would come first ; but seeing with soul 
eyes is taken for granted as though there were no 
such things as cause and effect upon the soul plane. 
And yet every one knows how much harder it is to 
gain the assent of the world at large to a truth, 
than to an error. 

There must be a logical reason for this. Com- 



"SOUL NERVES" 101 

parison with the physical nerves suggests one. In 
the body, seeing means a most intricate mechanical 
act, which, according to evolution, organic things 
required ages to acquire. We know nothing of this 
effort to-day, because we are born with a nearly 
perfected nervous system, but if we could be given 
a set of nerves that had never inherited this ability 
to vibrate at all, how soon would they learn the 
art of responding to trillions of undulations a second 
in order to be able to see some color correctly ? 

Eow there are many sets of soul nerves which 
have never had any exercise in the art of respond- 
ing to truth of any kind, as the optic nerve re- 
sponds to a ray of light. Whether the response to 
truth be the same as that of the physical nerves to 
light or not, the art cannot be learned without 
practice ; and if the practice waits too long, it will 
never be learned. The difficulty in being responsive 
to the abstract of any description may be entirely 
in the nature of a mechanical one ; (it is true that 
the defect can be removed with exercise). 

This is of course no proof that " saul nerves " re- 
spond to truth through some mechanical act of vibra- 
tion — a different class for each shade of meaning. 
The comparison is valuable, however, because it 
arouses the imagination as to the character of the diffi- 
culties in creating an appreciation of any new idea. 

Often, it takes a century of time to disentangle 
some truth from the error which clung to the first 
impression, and the character of this difficulty must 
be as well defined as the defect in nerves which see 
red for green. 



102 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

Science may not define this defect as clumsiness, 
and yet the inability to attain a special class of 
motion in distinguishing tone or color, would seem 
to be of that nature. One who is disposed to sing 
flat, finds it harder to strike the true note than the 
false one ; and it is much harder to believe a truth 
when first heard, than to believe an error. 

Also, if one stays until late in life in the same rut 
of thinking, it is as difficult an undertaking to get 
out of it as it would be to fit one's self to be a 
danseuse or acrobat when youth had passed. The 
presence of an effort does suggest clumsiness when 
one is unable to detect error or see shades of mean- 
ing ; not clumsiness of mind but of Soul. 

But better still, it suggests the need of exercise, 
which eventually removes the defect even if it 
should not be clumsiness. Long association with 
colors and tones increases the capacity to distin- 
guish ; long and intimate association with intricate 
and subtle ideas and shades of meaning increases in 
the same way the capacity to distinguish and makes 
the exercise a pleasure instead of a weariness. 

Without this association, it presently becomes too 
great an effort to seek out even the hidden causes 
which interfere with one's material success ; while 
to take a new point of view, even momentarily, be- 
comes an impossibility. Nothing but self-evident, 
material facts can interest. 

MISUSE OF TERMS 

The advantage of assuming that an appreciation 
of truths came through the mechanical act of vibra- 



" SOUL NERVES » 103 

tion as the sensation of light comes, would be very 
great. We should be forced then to select a differ- 
ent set of terms to express the act of bringing truth 
to the Soul ; and we need a different set from the 
misleading ones in use. 

Instead of the terms planting truth, instilling 
truth, truth germinating, a word would have to be 
sought that expressed a communication of motion. 
Vibration is of course the word that must be used 
at present ; its use would mean that the Soul was 
not a receptacle to be filled with truth but an 
entity to be charged with its divine vitality, until it 
could do and dare in every direction that was 
needed. 

Receptiveness to truth implies no effort upon 
the part of the Soul, and the use of this word 
receptiveness has been one great means for 
retarding the development of soul nerves. While 
it may not be correct to say that people lack imagi- 
nation, intuition, and cannot be convinced of any 
truth out of their beaten track, because their soul 
nerves cannot respond to trillions of undulations a 
second, yet the mere use of these words must sug- 
gest the nature of the difficulty. At least it may 
make the fact plainer that these soul nerves have 
some serious defect which needs immediate atten- 
tion. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR CREATING EFFICIENCY 

Another condition of the physical nerves is that 
to see anything, one must look at it. The act of 
looking at a truth an idea, the abstract or spiritual 



104 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

in general, is not what many suppose it to be, be- 
cause their conception of the act does not include 
the idea of responding to a motion. Looking, in 
this sense, can be explained best by illustrations. 

Consider then mathematical truths, many of which 
deal with conditions more ethereal than " spiritual " 
ones. In this connection, ethereal is used in the 
sense of being more difficult to grasp ; spiritual is 
used in the conventional sense of pertaining mainly 
to the ideas in connection with the salvation of the 
Soul. It is recognized that one might grasp easily 
the latter truths, through long association, and find 
the mathematical impossible simply through lack 
of this association. 

And yet the inability to grapple with mathematics 
would be as truly a defect of the Soul as the inabil- 
ity to accept spiritual truths. This is undeniably 
true, if " God created all things." 

But looking at a mathematical truth, is a very 
different affair from studying a rule in a book. 
This exercise of looking at the abstract must be 
gained by the kind of work engaged in by the first 
mathematicians of all. 

These had first to discover the problems which 
to-day are presented to every student for solving. 
They did not exist in books but in some mysterious 
state, where lies everything which man needs for 
the development of his Soul. The mathematician, 
looking long and patiently into these ethereal con- 
ditions, discovered such problems as were not sug- 
gested by material conditions, and worked out the 
rules with his reasoning powers. 



"SOUL NEKVES" 105 

It is this capacity which needs to be developed 
in the students of to-day — at the sacrifice, of 
course of a few thousand facts, more or less. 
But to the materialist, space scarcely exists or a 
universe of truth, as real, though as invisible as the 
gases. 

If the materialist were a teacher then, he would 
have no conception of what a student was missing, 
when, instead of looking steadily into the realm of 
abstract truth, he buried his head in a book, and 
memorized rules and formulas for solving problems 
already stated. It is true, however, that in this way 
of working, the student is getting the scantiest 
training in looking at the abstract. 

This exercise must be begun with the child ; yet 
many having children in charge, never realize this 
necessity for keeping the Soul's attention fixed upon 
the abstract, as the physical eye is trained to look 
steadily at material objects. Memorizing has noth- 
ing whatever to do with giving this exercise for 
holding the attention fixed upon ideas instead of 
upon things. 

On the contrary, memorizing often destroys an 
ability which ma} 7 exist, which means that a species 
of control over itself is being deliberately weakened 
in the Soul by some educational methods. Many 
deplorable failures in self-control are due to just 
such causes. 

Without this exercise, this feat of keeping the 
attention fixed on ideas becomes more and more 
difficult, as one grows older, until at last humanity 
finds it too difficult altogether, and refuses to con- 



106. A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

sider any but material objects ; and dense material- 
ism results. 

The scholar who has not had the careful training 
will meet with similar difficulties when thchardest 
work is reached in mathematics. It may not be 
because he is not equal to the work, if his attention 
could be kept fixed long and steadily enough to 
discover the subtle relations which furnish the clue. 
But because of the absence of this ability, his ca- 
pacity may never be discovered. 

A teacher who is not a thinker, but only a me- 
chanical worker, who trusts to memory alone, will 
have no conception of the difficulties with which 
the child is wrestling though they are immediately 
under his eyes. Still less will he realize that with 
each day, the child's ability to grasp the abstract is 
being lessened. 

To give this training, the first step should be to 
take away the rules, wherever the processes are 
logical enough, and require the child to make his 
own, instead of memorizing those already made. 
(This may not always be possible, where the proc- 
esses are mechanical, and not logical.) Of course 
so much ground would not be covered by this 
method but the race would be learning to see as a 
whole. Contact with the ethereal is never attained 
by mere memorizing. 

Again, in the study of history. It is the ethereal 
conditions with which the scholar is concerned and 
which he may never catch a glimpse of, as he mem- 
orizes page after page to recite. He needs to have 
the mental eyes cleared, so that he sees for himself 



" SOUL NEKVES » 107 

something of the human nature reacting to its ethe- 
real environment in the passage of events. It is 
subtle relations, correspondences, influences, mo- 
tives that need to be absorbing the attention, not 
facts ; and these cannot get attention if instead 
the time must be absorbed in memorizing the 
hundreds of unimportant details placed in most 
text-books. 

These books are often made by those who cannot 
see so ethereal a thing as the needs of a human 
Soul ; and this denseness is being created and ad- 
mitted into important places constantly. 

What has one who knows of nothing but memo- 
rizing to do with a human Soul's development ? The 
carpenter who makes the furnishings of the gym- 
nasium has a perfect memory of every detail. But 
would this be considered the kind of knowledge 
that fitted him to interfere with the development 
of the human body when he did not know a 
fact about its nerves, muscles, and their various 
needs ? 

A person may be a very cyclopedia of historical 
data, and never catch a glimpse of the stream of 
evolution beneath. History should be read in class 
and the student encouraged to make his own deduc- 
tions. This keeps the mind centred upon the ab- 
stract and trains in thinking. This work can be 
begun with very young children. 

The same is true in cultivating the ability to look 
at and be benefited by ethical truth. One may 
memorize texts, histories, catechisms forever and 
never get a glimpse of the idea these are trying 



108 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

to advance. The ethical truths deal with man's 
relation to himself, to his fellow-man — and ani- 
mals — and lastly, to the unseen universe and its 
Cause. 

The relations between these ethical truths and 
humanity, and man's relation to humanity also, are 
being demonstrated hour by hour before his eyes, 
in every circumstance of life. Every event, large 
and small of human life, has something to tell. It 
is here then that these truths should be studied. 

The problems and situations of the present, form 
the arena in which humanity can exercise that keen 
discrimination and self-control which mark the sec- 
ond set of powers. To recognize each situation and 
the influence to be brought to bear, as the physi- 
cian sees the physical trouble and selects the rem- 
edy and above all to see the human Soul beneath, 
its rights and divine origin, this is one phase of 
inspiration. 

This fine discrimination which can detect the 
dividing line between the obscurest rights of indi- 
viduals, is not being revealed in the platitudes 
which are often applied indiscriminately to every 
case. But one must have training in looking stead- 
ily until all the subtle relations begin to reveal 
themselves ; as when one looks steadily at a tree 
until details of leaves, branches, coloring, light and 
shade catch the attention as they never do with the 
superficial observer. 

By giving this close attention to the ethereal 
conditions in the Ego's environment, deductions 
begin to form which are applicable to the imme- 



"SOUL NERVES" 109 

diate situation, not to some other superficial phase, 
with which every one is acquainted. 1 

The training for this discrimination can be begun 
with even the child, care being taken, of course, to 
exercise the utmost judgment in the work. To 
train the Soul nerves in this direction, the willing 
little mind must be put in contact with the situa- 
tions themselves, not with some talk about them. 
Do not preach his duty to him, but put him to the 
work of settling the knotty little points which come 
up in the daily life of home and school, and even 
in his relations to his own city. An impersonal 
attitude must be assumed. The child's loyalty to 
a law of right which he has himself evolved, will 
be surer to stand temptation, than under any other 
conditions. 

One afternoon a week should be devoted to drill 
in seeking out the individual rights in such cases as 
the child can grasp ; in questioning as to duties, re- 
lations between certain acts, in the search for mo- 
tives, and for influences. In this way, the habit 
would be formed of realizing that there was an un- 
seen world around the Soul which affected it, and 
of looking steadily into its depths. Many never do 
this. 

The old-fashioned debating society also cultivated 
this habit of looking steadily at the abstract in the 
shape of opinions, rights, etc. Arguing is magnifi- 

1 It is not that the superficial person does not see these details ; 
it is that he cannot see them that is so unfortunate. When pres- 
ently it becomes the need of his life, to see below the surface, he 
will find it impossible. 



110 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

cent practice in this direction. It is not the ability 
to settle questions that is to be considered in taking 
this exercise, but the training in being able to hold 
the mind down to ethereal things as one holds the 
eye fixed. Presently comes the ability — so lacking 
in many — to see finer and finer shades of meanings 
and to hold many invisible, impalpable entities in 
the mental keeping until time to apply them to the 
most ethereal situations. 

It must be remembered that, assuming the exist- 
ence of " soul nerves," this act of looking steadily 
at the truth means something similar to the mechan- 
ical act of responding to a fabulous number of un- 
dulations a second. Of course it is wearying, to 
one who has not had the drill. But the more 
wearying, the more it is needed. 

The facility should be cultivated sedulously from 
childhood up. Many a child can use its judgment, 
can analyze, classify, decide upon relative values, 
etc., at six years, much better than at twelve, after 
having been through the forcing system which 
too often stands for education. It is enough 
to make the heavens cry out to see the kind of 
work that is given to children — after leaving the 
kindergarten — in the most impressible years of 
their lives. 

DEFECTS OF EAELY TKAINING AND MEMORIZING 

At this time, any necessary habits of mind and 
Soul could be formed. Every evil to be deplored 
in its future could be exactly prepared for, and the 
child would enjoy the training. The habits of self- 



" SOUL NERVES " 111 

control and of appreciativeness in all right and 
healthy directions which could be formed in these 
years would count for more than all that is gained 
at the expense of such habits. 

Every one must have noticed how the bright child 
seems to absorb often, instead of going through 
the effort of memorizing. This desirable capacity 
is due to favorable conditions in the life of the 
child, or of its ancestors. These conditions could 
be discovered and reproduced ior the benefit of the 
dull child, and the work would not be greater than 
the attempt to teach it without creating a keen in- 
terest. Where this interest is kept up in the child, 
the ability to keep the attention centred upon the 
abstract, as upon a material object, will come of 
itself. 

The means for arousing interest must include 
many things besides books and memory exercises ; 
and the cultivation of the will power must not be 
lost sight of in cultivating the power to see. Often 
these most important capacities are being destroyed 
day by day in the schoolroom : it is not realized that 
any one can plant a truth or an idea, in the sense 
of teaching to repeat the formula which stands for 
it like a parrot ; but that very few are able to cul- 
tivate the facility to appreciate ideas and grasp 
them readily. 

The work in the schoolroom should so fascinate 
that it can compete with all the undisciplined or 
vicious attractions the child meets upon the street. 
But memorizing alone cannot accomplish this. 

It is heartrending to see little children wasting 



112 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

precious, golden moments poring over unimportant 
names upon the map, memorizing unimportant dates 
and events or difficult names in mathematics (when 
their only concern should be to draw the figures) or 
committing tables, digit by digit, when all such de- 
tails—as the tables — can be gained intuitively during 
more important processes. The universe of the ab- 
stract is becoming each day, more and more inac- 
cessible to them, because of this absorption in the 
trivial and material. 

There are many who go through their education 
without getting any of this most necessary drill ; 
because of the prevalence of memory work. And 
yet a child of three can be trained to look as steadily 
at an abstract thing as at a material one. It was 
just this ability in the childhood of the race that re- 
sulted in inspiration. 

As the years pass this effort becomes more and 
more difficult and finally impossible, just as intricate 
muscular work becomes impossible from stiffened 
joints and muscles. Then when life presents prob- 
lems which require the keenest insight and the most 
precise use of the reasoning powers, they cannot be 
met and conquered. The absence of soul nerves is 
demonstrated every day, by the inability to think 
one's self out of a difficulty when material means 
are of no avail or unattainable. 

As humanity develops, such situations become 
more and more frequent. Those who are surrounded 
with resources and the influences of birth, means, 
position, and are bolstered up by these, may never 
discover how weak they would be in such situations 



"SOUL NERVES" 113 

without this support. This weakness is very gen- 
eral, however, in high as well as in low places ; and 
it is a weakness of the Soul, which must be offensive 
to an omnipotent Being, no matter how much He 
forgives it. 

Meantime, the criticism of the weak ones (who 
are supported) which they fling unstintedly upon 
the weak ones who are not so supported, and have 
no weapon but neglected reasoning powers, is a 
great and incessant act of injustice. 

It follows that a teacher who understands noth- 
ing about these " soul nerves," is not a thinker him- 
self, and who is conscious of only what can be 
sensed through the physical nerves, will be doing 
incalculable harm in this domain, and be, of course, 
unconscious of the fact. 

Unfortunately, this condition is compatible with 
the presence of the intensest conscientiousness. 
As stated, any one can plant a truth who is able to 
repeat the formula which stands for it ; but the 
ability to cultivate the facility to see and receive 
truths, is a rare accomplishment. The intensest 
conscientiousness however will not create the ability 
to cultivate this facility in others. It must come 
through long, long training which is often being 
sacrificed in the training for conscientiousness 
only. 

If there are such entities as " soul nerves," then, 
this facility to respond to the truth, however new, 
means the same thing as being able to go through 
some intricate action : such as the physical nerves 
go through with, for instance in responding to un- 



114 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

dulations so swift that seven hundred millions of 
millions break upon the retina every moment in 
looking at the color violet ; or undulations so short 
that sixty thousand — for the same color — are 
compressed in an inch; the length of each 
being less than one thirty-five ten millionths of an 
inch. 

Of course it cannot be asserted that soul nerves 
exist, or that their existence would mean that they 
obeyed the same laws as the physical ones. But in 
bringing the term to this natural test of its mean- 
ing, the difficulties in disseminating truth are seen 
in a new light. 

These difficulties exist ; they are immense ; they 
need to be looked at in every light that it is possi- 
ble to bring to bear. This use of the term soul 
nerves, brings out this fact which might not be dis- 
covered in any other way ; that is that truth cannot 
be planted any more than light can : that we do 
not have light related to us, talked at us, but we 
sit in its rays, and receive its benefits. 

Some means to create in soul nerves the facility 
to receive exact impressions of truth is becoming a 
necessity. To have to receive it, strained through 
the unavoidable error which each human interpre- 
tation adds, is deplorable. One's own errors form 
a veil which shuts out much of the reality ; one is 
only doubling the veil when others are required to 
do their thinking for them. 

The motor side of these soul nerves, would mean 
of course the ability to control these ethereal con- 
ditions. But to control any condition, it is neces- 



"SOUL NERVES" 115 

sary first to recognize its presence and its character. 
A blind Sampson would be helpless before many 
trifling material dangers. 

The use of the word vibration would accomplish 
much if it did no more than suggest these reasons 
why it is so difficult to have truth appreciated. 
Constant exercise would be necessary to create fa- 
cility in responding to vibration. This exercise 
would consist in daily association with ideas of all 
classes. Memorizing does not give this exercise; 
first, because one can memorize with the mind's eye 
straying off in every direction ; second, because one 
can memorize while the words are carrying no 
more meaning to the Soul than if they were in a 
foreign tongue. 

Wherever these habits exist, the soul nerves are 
getting no more exercise than the eyes would get 
if kept always bandaged. This alone would destroy 
the capacity of inspiration. 

Nerves in this condition would need the same 
careful attention which an oculist would give to 
eyes that could not see clearly ; but it is the cus- 
tom, quite frequently, for those who are dealing 
with dull or refractory or vicious people to declare 
that they are stubborn and to not even realize that 
there is a defect to be removed. 

Imagine an oculist whose sole treatment con- 
sisted in holding objects before half blind eyes and 
calling the patient stubborn because he did not see. 
There are many who have no thought of the neces- 
sity of getting the Soul into the right condition. 
Their attention is centred only upon the idea to be 



116 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

impressed, with some belief that the mere repetition 
of words will have some supernatural effect. 

There are no supernatural effects. For every 
slightest result in the Soul, a law has been provided. 
When the mere repetition of words succeeds in giv- 
ing a desired impression of some abstract idea, this 
means that the soul nerves have already been 
trained in the necessary facility. When the idea 
does not take effect, they have not been trained. 

This explanation is as indisputable as that one is 
blind when they look at a ray of light and do not 
see it. When the light can reach the soul it has a 
certain subtle effect. Just as truly will an idea 
have an effect, more or less forceful, if it gains the 
attention. But ideas are a subtle something aside 
from the words which represent them, just as light 
is a force entirely distinct from the words which 
would describe it. Mere memorizing can never 
produce these effects. One could not see to read 
or warm one's self by the most vivid description 
of light or heat. Inspiration is equally impossible 
without contact with truth as a force instead of as 
mere words. 

SOME DEDUCTIONS 

Again, if the impressions of the abstract come 
through some means resembling trillions of undula- 
tions a second, then some more intricate class of 
truth cannot be appreciated before the simpler ex- 
ercises have been gained perfectly. 

This is the mistake usually made in dealing with 
very untrained classes of minds. Often, those who 



" SOUL NERVES " 117 

have had no exercise in this direction are expected 
to receive immediately, by merely hearing the words, 
some truth which perhaps it has taken the race a 
century of experience and effort to develop. This 
mistake is often made with savage nations. Civi- 
lization means something far greater than wearing 
clothes, learning to read, and even respecting the 
marriage tie. 

The term soul nerves implies the existence of a 
telegraphic system, over which the truth comes. 
One may have the intensest wish or anxiety to re- 
form or influence, but wishes or conscientiousness 
do not create telegraphic systems. 

It is impossible to believe that a divine Being 
Avould will that any one should be blind to the 
truth, or would perform miracles to remove the 
defects. Had the religionists then been giving 
logical thought to the subject all these days, we 
should be spared such hideous explanations of pres- 
ent conditions, as that " God is obliged to condemn 
some to eternal punishment, for the sake of His 
own glory." 

This and many other impious conceptions of Di- 
vinity and truth, have resulted from the strange 
idea which many possess that one who is trying to 
impart ethical or spiritual truth does not need to 
have great intelligence. No idea could be more 
pernicious and the human Soul has suffered from 
the effects of it in many ways. 

The idea arose perhaps from the injunction to be 
" like a little child." But it was never the igno- 
rance of the little child that was meant. It was the 



118 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

child's intense vitality, receptiveness and determina- 
tion to know, know, know. It was the child's keen- 
ness in detecting the spurious and its power to leave 
behind each day, the ignorance of yesterday. It 
was the hospitality to all new ideas, the freedom 
from prejudice and its readiness to believe in possi- 
bilities beyond the evidence of its senses, that must 
have been meant. 

The difference between this spirit and the igno- 
rance which is supposed b}^ some to be no bar in the 
ministry — of all professions — is beyond expression. 

As stated in the beginning of the second set of 
powers, these three preceding chapters, are writ- 
ten for three purposes. I. To define the meaning 
of Inspiration. II. To suggest certain influences 
which would surely efface such a power, if it 
ever existed. III. To give reasons why all who 
believe in the past existence of this power, should 
make every effort to revive it. Its absence might 
even become one test of development. 



CHAPTEE XIII 

THIRD SET OF POWERS 

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THESE AND THE OTHER 
SETS — DIFFERENCE IN THE AGENTS — SOUL'S 
EFFECT UPON ETHER — CORROBORATION 
THROUGH PHENOMENON OF DREAMING 

LIST 

Sensory Motor 

Subconsciousness. Consciousness. 

11 Hearing One's Self Think." Memory. 

Dreaming. Playing by Ear. 

Hallucinations. Drawing from Memory. 

Catalepsy. 
Sense of direction, space, distance, etc. 



This is an instance where exact classification is 
difficult, since some of the powers could as well be 
upon one side as the other. But at this stage, sim- 
plicity of presentation is of paramount importance. 

The value of this third set in revealing interest- 
ing and often unexpected condition of the Soul, is 
very great. Studied closely, they also reveal the 
serious danger of undertaking the development of 
this greatest of all entities without understanding 
all its possibilities and characteristics. 

Through this set, many further glimpses are 
caught of the more subtle phases, which appar- 

119 



120 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

ently could be gained in no other way. The sug- 
gestions due to these glimpses, cannot be refuted, 
even if they cannot be proved as true ; they should 
cause a criticism then of many methods in existence 
to-day, for influencing Soul. 

On the sensory side of these third powers, there 
are several marked differences between this set and 
the two already given. The Ego seems now 
brought into intimate contact with certain of its 
own states and actions instead of with the material 
universe and the universe of truth and ideas, as 
before. 

On the motor side there is also a difference, but 
not so great a one. Soul is still controlling itself, 
but under different conditions. 

There is a difference, for instance, between con- 
trolling the Ego in such acts as playing by ear or 
drawing from memory and the control necessary 
to resist temptation of any kind. Though both 
these first acts often mean an inheritance, for 
which the possessor deserves no credit, they yet in- 
dicate a high degree of cultivation in both sides of 
these Soul powers. 

There is again a difference between controlling 
the Soul during temptation and sending down a 
force which produces such physical conditions as 
catalepsy ; or in producing objective impressions in 
dreams when no material object is present. All 
these the Ego is capable of doing as this third set 
demonstrates. 

On the sensory side, the Soul is learning most in- 
teresting facts about itself. Even the illnesses and 



THIRD SET OF POWERS 121 

accidents of its body seem to suggest the Ego's re- 
sourcefulness in overcoming difficulties. 1 

Studied closely, this third set suggests the pres- 
ence of still another telegraphic system, running 
from the Soul, back to its own self and discovering 
a most peculiar state of affairs. This system is re- 
vealed in the homely expression "Hearing one's 
self think," and it is impossible to avoid the sugges- 
tion that the Soul would not know even of its own 
existence, much less of its states, if it were not for 
this system. (Just as it would know nothing of the 
conditions of its body, if it were not for the phys- 
ical nerves.) 

These powers then also reveal the Soul in the acts 
of discerning and of willing. Though in some di- 
visions of this set, the Ego seems to be seeing and 
hearing its own thoughts, memories, actions — which 
are of course creations of the Soul itself — this see- 
ing and hearing we must attribute to nerves of some 
kind, since we know of no other means of com- 
munication. Whether these are physical or soul 
nerves, is to be decided only by experiments and the 
closest thinking : but the decision will be a most 
important one in the life of the race. 

DIFFEKENCE IN THE AGENTS 

These third powers then indicate a different spe- 
cies of seeing and hearing ; but the important fact in 

1 This might help to remove the atmosphere of sentimentalism, 
which hovers around too many cases of invalidism — a contribution 
from the romantic days, when good health was considered to indi- 
cate a lack of delicacy in the nature. 



122 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

this difference does not lie so much in the class of 
nerves used, as in the agent which sets these nerves 
to work. 

In the acts of seeing and hearing in the first and 
second sets of powers, the agents which cause the 
vibrations of the sensory nerves, whether they 
were in the material or the abstract universe are 
independent of the Ego itself. 

In this third set of powers however, the agent 
which creates the impressions being received, is the 
Soul itself. If it were possible to know that these 
impressions came to the Soul by means of the phys- 
ical nerves, as other impressions come, it would be 
evident then that the Ego is able to generate a 
force, just as force is generated in the universe by 
which the ether is kept in its constant condition of 
vibration. 

This would be a most interesting fact to discover 
about the Soul. It is also a most interesting sub- 
ject for speculation. A centre of force which at 
the same time thinks and feels, must require more 
careful and varied consideration than is often sup- 
posed to be necessary for the Soul. 

It is impossible to avoid considering that force is 
generated when a command is sent down the motor 
nerves to the muscles ; but in these third powers, 
Soul seems to be even setting up sights and sounds 
in imitation of those created by the material world. 

"Whatever may be the character of the dynamo 
which creates the phenomena of seeing and hearing 
through ether vibrations, some other agent must be 
found for the phenomena in this third set. While 



THIKD SET OF POWERS 123 

this agent may not be the Soul, at least, at pres- 
ent, there seems to be no other one in view that can 
so substantiate its claims. The importance of this, 
even as a possibility only, cannot be overestimated. 
As stated, it would suggest that the Soul of even 
the meanest being was a generator of force, as it 
certainly seems to be, when it controls the motor 
nerves. 

If there should really be a close correspondence 
between Soul and the physical body, there would 
be no possibility of evading this suggestion. In 
dreams, hallucinations, etc., we are seeing and hear- 
ing something, and there must be a definite way by 
which these impressions come. The seeing and 
hearing of material objects is due to vibrations of 
the ether which is a form of energy, created by 
some agent. 

soul's effect upon the ether 

If Soul were the agent in the third set of powers, 
it must be considered that it may have power 
even to affect the ether. This would furnish a 
standard by which to measure the Ego's present 
attainments, and would be of itself, a sufficient 
reason for taking this point of view. Any idea 
which can arouse interest and waken the imagina- 
tion over the real meaning of Soul is its own ex- 
cuse. Even if proved erroneous on its first appear- 
ance, it has aroused the truth that proved it. 

Measuring Soul as an agent, by the one which 
I creates or modifies ether vibrations, reveals an in- 
teresting state of affairs in this third set. In the 



124 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

first two powers, the stability of the entities which 
created them, was pointed out. The peculiar quality 
of a material object is this stability. It stays in its 
place until removed, and its action upon the nerves 
is continuous and steady. 

The ether vibrations which bring light, color, 
sound, are also steady and continuous; while the 
eternal verities are probably never interfered with, 
as far as their state and continued action upon the 
Soul is concerned. 

When the Ego is unable then to focus its atten- 
tion in any one of these directions, it is never the 
fault of the objects themselves. 

The case is very different however, when it is the 
human Soul which is creating the objects to be seen 
or heard, in dreaming for instance. This Soul is 
most undisciplined and unstable. Its memories, 
thoughts, opinions, often have about as much 
power to gain and hold the attention of its own 
nerves, as a will-o'-the-wisp. 

CORROBORATION THROUGH PHENOMENON OP 
DREAMING 

Some appreciation of what the Soul is doing then, 
when it dreams steadily, recalls easily, etc., will be 
realized, if one remembers how hard it is for even 
material things to hold the attention. 

Now these impressions received by the Soul in 
the third powers, are never due to material entities, 
(though not to ethereal ones as ethereal is used in 
the second powers). This fact should be considered 
significant, when it is taken in connection with the 



THIED SET OF POWERS 125 

fact that usually, it is impossible for the Soul to be 
conscious of the presence of any but material enti- 
ties, though the ethereal conditions which surround 
it are as real as the gases. 

Though the capacity exists only in sleep, it sug- 
gests that there should be more interests in the 
latent powers which this Ego may be possessing. 

Since we cannot be conscious in this vivid way 
of our waking thoughts and memories, it is evident 
that Soul possesses in sleep a capacity which it does 
not possess in waking hours. This may seem a 
great many words for a very small fact; but it 
underlies one of the most important questions of 
existence — the capacity which may be possessed by 
a disembodied Soul. 

This ability to create at times impressions of 
sights and sounds so vivid as to deceive the Ego 
itself, suggests again that science may not yet 
have come to the end of the search which deals 
with the phenomena of seeing and hearing. How 
could it have done so, when these wonderful sensa- 
tions are referred to a material agent only, the 
brain ? 

It may be to tell but half the story also, when 
the origin of these impressions is attributed to the 
ether alone. Even a temporary study then of this 
subject of the senses with the Soul as a factor will 
suggest many valuable ideas, each of which could 
be tested. 

This third set of powers finally, would meet some 
of the qualifications that should belong to " Soul 
nerves." That is, they enable us to discern the 



126 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

Soul itself, at work, instead of only the material 
universe and the universe of truths and ideas. 

Through the physical nerves, we see something 
of the actions of the mighty Soul of the universe — 
by whatever name this is called. But through the 
third set of powers, we see the human Soul at work 
in its own universe, the body. The way in which 
the impressions come in each case, is a subject de- 
manding the closest attention. 



CHAPTER XIV 

SUBCONSCIOUSNESS — MISTAKEN BELIEFS IN SIM- 
PLICITY — EXTENT OF THE SOUL — ILLUSTRA- 
TION OF RELATION BETWEEN SUBCONSCIOUS- 
NESS AND CONSCIOUSNESS — FOUR STATES OF 
THE SUBCONSCIOUS 

Before beginning upon this most interesting 
one of the third set of powers, a little time must 
be spent in defining the extent of the Soul, as dis- 
played even in the limited knowledge we have of 
its nature. This is really necessary because of a 
determined inclination to-day to insist upon the 
simplicity of everything, human character, espe- 
cially. 

There is no such condition as that of simplicity 
in life to-day. To insist upon the idea, only lessens 
the sense of responsibility and causes humanity to 
assume burdens that are entirely beyond its 
strength. The expression " Let there be light " is 
often used as a wonderful (and most misleading) 
illustration of simplicity in expression. 

Its use in this way will illustrate the unfor- 
tunate result of this devotion to the simple. To the 
struggling thinkers in the dawn of intelligence 
doubtless those words stood for the act of the 
gradual coming of light from chaos, which to them 
could mean only some act like stepping, in a mo- 

127 



128 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

ment of time from the darkness of one condition 
into the light of another. 

Those thinkers were excusable for this idea. 
They had no means for suspecting the marvellous 
complexity which underlies even what appears to be 
the simplest act of Nature. They could have had 
no conception of the many steps in the evolution of 
light from chaos, and the precision with which each 
was taken, as is the case in every act of Nature's. 

But to-day, it is inexcusable for any one to im- 
agine that the act of this creation of light was a 
simple one ; as though it meant nothing more than 
striking a match and touching it to a gas jet (and 
even this being simple only to the most ignorant). 

" Let there be light " though a grand sentence at 
its birth then, is now shutting out a most needed 
view of Omnipotence. The effect is similar when 
one insists upon the simplicity of the human Soul. 

It is this idea, among others, which interferes 
seriously with reform. Certain fundamental traits 
of character are always in evidence. The super- 
ficial observer cannot see the host of obscure ones 
below the surface and keeps perpetuating the idea 
of simplicity. As a consequence the impression is 
rooted deeply, that any one can understand the hu- 
man Soul, and attempt to develop it ; that any one 
can raise a child ; any one undertake its education ; 
any one attempt to reform a depraved nature. 

As a further consequence, in the great majority 
of cases the Soul is exposed to exactly the wrong 
influences, instead of the ones which would develop 
it as it should be ; and we hear then that it is im- 



SUBCONSCIOUSNESS 129 

possible to reform. But it is true, that whatever 
method is used and does not succeed, is the wrong 
method, in that case. 

EXTENT OF THE SOUL 

To remove then this impression of the Soul's 
simplicity, consider the work which even the most 
degraded Soul is doing always ; first in keeping 
intact through the motor nerves, the elements which 
make up its physical body; and second in receiv- 
ing the stream of impressions constantly coming to 
it through the sensory nerves, and in controlling 
even the limited number of daily actions which the 
average person engages in. 

The impressions from the world without, brought 
by the sensory nerves, even the most primitive soul 
sorts, labels, classifies and combines into convictions, 
while at the same time experiencing emotions of 
many kinds and creating sentiments as varied. 

Consider also the accumulation of memories, 
habits, prejudices, inherited or acquired. Consider 
the capacities, reasoning powers, convictions of 
right and wrong, beginnings of knowledge, ethical, 
artistic, scientific ; all the flotsam and jetsam of in- 
heritance from disciplined and undisciplined an- 
cestors and creating, altogether, this souPs char- 
acter, consistency. 

The list does not stop even here. There are still 
the possibilities into which each Soul could develop 
under a favorable environment. These possibilities 
must exist in some shape which may bear some 
resemblance to that of stored energy. The stored 



. 



130 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

force in the watch-spring lies in the same unrecog- 
nized yet potent state as the capacities into which 
Soul is to develop. 

There are also those ancestral memories which 
give the sensations, familiar to all,, of having " been 
through some experience before." Lastly, there are 
the many now latent physical capacities once 
possessed by man and still retained by many ani- 
mals, when not spoiled by civilization. An instance 
of such possessions is seen in the ease with which 
the very young child learns to swim, while the art 
is so difficult to acquire if one waits too long. 

This chaos of conditions, of which the Soul itself 
knows so little proves conclusively, that even the 
most primitive Ego to-day is a most complex entity, 
since it is composed of all these factors even when 
those due to the book education are lacking. This 
complexity should also remove the idea that all 
humanity is run in exactly the same molds, like rows 
of candles. 

SUBCONSCIOUSNESS 

While all these capacities exist in every Soul in 
some degree of vitality, the Ego itself is often 
entirely ignorant of their presence. It is this fact 
which has given rise to the term "subconscious 
self. " In this respect, the Soul corresponds closely 
with the body, since, to the child at least, the body 
is a complication of organs, tissues, muscles, etc., of 
whose actions and existence he is at first entirely 
ignorant. 

To this subconscious condition of the Self, the 



SUBCONSCIOUSNESS 131 

most discriminating care is due. Only the keenest 
and most logical minds should have it in care — 
those acquainted with all the influences and forces 
known at present. It is as far as possible from 
being an " ignorant personality " yet " controlling " 
the asserted wiser conscious self, as has been stated. 
The conscious self is often really the ignorant part 
of the Soul, since the subconscious state and the 
laws which govern its development, are often un- 
dreamed of. The subconscious state performs its 
appointed work, without any supervision from the 
consciousness. Often indeed, the consciousness in- 
terferes with its automatic, or initiative work. 
Those who play from memory until in some selec- 
tion the act has become automatic, will realize this 
fact. Being automatic, the act goes on with the 
mind engaged upon something else : but if by any 
chance consciousness interferes, a mistake is very 
likely to occur. 

This will be more noticeable still, if one has 
forgotten such a selection, and is trying to recall it. 
The success will be greater when one does not think 
too intently upon the subject. The subconsciousness 
seems to be under the control of Nature, while man 
himself is controlling the consciousness. 

KELATION OF SUBCONSCIOUSNESS TO SOUL 

But this invisible part of the Soul is by no means 
a separate personality, as has been also stated. 

The safest and most reasonable plan is to consider 
the Soul a unit, until we can prove that it is made 
up of separate personalities : especially when there 



132 A FEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

are more reasonable ways to explain its peculiarities. 
It is much more reasonable to say the subconscious- 
ness is simply a part of the Soul of whose existence 
the majority are ignorant, and whose depths, at 
present, no one can entirely fathom. It is unfortu- 
nate that the term self ever came to be applied to 
it, since its real status is the subsconscious part of 
one's self. 

It is quite true that this chaos of tendencies, 
capacities and habits is constantly biasing our 
actions, often without the fact being realized ; but it 
would be as logical to declare that physical weak- 
ness, when interfering with one's actions, was a 
separate, ignorant personality, controlling the other 
self. Consciousness and subconsciousness are states 
which express the degree of development and 
vitality, to which the Soul has attained. This 
vitality varies constantly not only in the Soul, but 
in different divisions of its capacities and interests. 
To-day one set will have the floor to be lulled 
to-morrow into temporary inaction by some different 
set of experiences ; just as the conscious self is 
always changing, where the vitality is great. A 
sudden excitement, or unusual experience, will often 
bring a part of this unrecognized state into view, 
and astonish the owner with a possession of which 
he had no suspicion. These instances sometimes 
suggest the heights to which one should attain all 
the time ; or they may suggest a height to which 
some ancestor attained, and which we have not 
discovered before. 

There is an illustration which expresses this well, 



SUBCONSCIOUSNESS 133 

though it is a somewhat material one. Imagine a 
bed of wood coals, half covered with ashes, but 
showing a glimmer here and there, which reveals 
that life is present. Take the bellows and blow 
upon this bed for a few moments and watch it 
quiver into a beautiful glow over its entire surface. 
This reveals the latent capacity of the mass ; but 
as soon as the impulse which woke it into life is 
removed, the pile sinks back into its original state. 

This last condition represents the subconscious- 
ness. The bellows stands for the extremities of 
life and effort, of which many are so terribly afraid. 
The beautiful glow is the consciousness, aroused 
into vitality by these extremities. Suffering, urgent 
necessities, intense ambition, conscientiousness, the 
need to put forth one's finest strength to accomplish 
some difficult feat, all these have the effect of 
arousing the subconsciousness into what should per- 
haps be its normal condition. 1 

Those who have some conception of the meaning 
of life, with all its possibilities, will want to learn 
how to keep up the glow without waiting for cir- 
cumstances to bring it about ; for too often the 
circumstance is suffering. But if consciousness 
were kept to its normal point of vitality, doubtless 
one would see how to evade the suffering, because 
the use of extreme experiences is to awaken the 
dolt, never to punish one already sufficiently 
alive. 

'In one sense this illustration is unfortunate. The more alive 
the coals, the quicker they die. But in the soul, vitality breeds 
vitality. 



134 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

FOUR STATES OF THE SUBCONSCIOUSNESS 

A further look at this subconsciousness will reveal 
that all these elements are present in one of four 
different forms. 

I. Those which have never yet reached a state 
of consciousness, (as seen in the dull children of 
bright parents). 

II. Those which have been developed by environ- 
ment, but which have been lost, forgotten, through 
change or lapse of time, neglect, etc. 

III. Those which have been cultivated to such a 
high state of perfection, in the case of capacities, 
that one is no longer conscious of their presence or 
action, though in constant use. This means auto- 
matic action. 

IV. A state of activity which means subconscious 
thinking; for often thinking goes on without the 
knowledge of the conscious self, and comes into 
view under favoring conditions. 

The third or automatic state is most familiarly re- 
vealed by any musician who is able to play a diffi- 
cult selection and talk at the same time. But the 
most pronounced case of this automatic action is 
found in the unconscious control of the various 
organs of the body, by means of the motor nerves. 
According to evolution, this control was gained step 
by step, with such difficulty as attends acquiring 
any muscular feat ; but now the Ego has been di- 
recting the motor nerves that control heart, lungs, 
etc., so long, that there is not the slightest conscious- 
ness of the act. 1 

1 It is this automatic control of the functions that is being inter- 



SUBCONSCIOUSNESS 1 35 

A detailed account of each state would be most 
interesting if space permitted, but this subconscious 
thinking is the most peculiar and interesting of all. 
It seems as though it might often be due simply to 
the incessant action and reaction of all the acquire- 
ments of the subconsciousness upon each other. 
The soul grows partly through its thinking ; and 
this act is illustrated on the physical plane by the 
body's unnoticed act of growing. 

SUBCONSCIOUS THINKING 

That the reasoning powers do often go on with 
their work without the Soul being conscious of the 
fact, is demonstrated every time one puts a problem 
into the keeping of the subconsciousness and pres- 
ently finds it worked out to a satisfactory conclu- 
sion. There is, however, an instance more peculiar 
still, of which all thinkers must be conscious and 
which illustrates both the act below the surface and 
its coming into view. 

A full fledged idea comes to one suddenly with no 
logical reasons in sight, for either its existence, or 
its truthfulness. It seems to be a perfected de- 
duction from something, but it is impossible to say 
what. It is labeled and laid away for future atten- 
tion. Then weeks, months, even a year or two 
later, after a laborious process of reasoning, from 
data collected from various experiences and with 

fered with, when one is accused of thinking too much of one's symp- 
toms. The thinking itself may be subconscious, in which case, the 
person would honestly deny the act. But many other mental 
states can produce this same effect of interference. 



138 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

is. It is impossible to love or appreciate something 
of which little or nothing is known. The duty in 
this direction may be preached forever, and there 
will be no result. But reveal the heights and 
depths of the subconscious self, the possibilities, tend- 
encies, meanings, motives, and gradually interest 
must be aroused. And from interest will come 
what is far better than love even — that is justice, 
and just criticisms. 



CHAPTER XV 

CONSCIOUSNESS 

Consciousness is the opposite condition to the 
subconscious state, and is entirely absent in the 
child at birth. When the child is born, it is 
animated by a wonderful activity, revealed espe- 
cially in its ability to control the organs of its body : 
but any knowledge of itself, its capacities, instincts, 
or of its existence even is entirely absent. 

Consciousness is the characteristic of the Soul 
which distinguishes man from the animal. It can 
be defined somewhat then, by studying its absence 
in the animal. It is doubtful if even the very intel- 
ligent animals are conscious of the existence of 
their bodies, except during pain or injury in some 
part or member. Existence itself, and its object 
cannot gain the animal's attention, as they cannot 
gain it in a very low order of human beings. 
Again, though an animal can suffer mentally, (as 
well as physically) through homesickness or loss of 
relative or friend, and can enjoy, as in the chase, it 
still cannot think (as far as we know) "I am 
suffering," or take pride in its successes, though 
ambitious to succeed. A dog also, may be most 
faithful to a trust but cannot be said to be conscious 
of duty, or know that it is performing one. It is 
these distinctions which define the presence and 

139 



140 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

meaning of consciousness. If there seem to be 
cases where it exists in an animal, that is only 
another proof of the theory of Evolution. 

The extent to which the consciousness is devel- 
oped in individuals, is widely different. The condi- 
tion of an idiot is the extreme instance of its absence 
in the human Soul, after that of the new-born 
infant. The supreme height to which this state has 
attained at present, would seem to be the conscious- 
ness of the existence of one's own Soul. 

To believe that one has a Soul because told the 
fact, is not necessarily being conscious of the Soul. 
Consciousness is a much more subtle condition than 
knowing, as the word is understood. One may be 
full of knowledge and yet have a very misty con- 
ception of the Soul. It has taken ages of existence 
for the consciousness of humanity to reach its 
present altitude ; and yet with many, it compares 
with the subconscious self, as the faint silver rim of 
the new moon compares with the remaining dark- 
ened section of the sphere. 

The bed of coals when full of life has been given 
as an illustration of the consciousness. The act of 
waking from sleep illustrates also the difference 
between the subconscious and conscious self. The 
act of sleeping itself, has also a great significance. 
It suggests the important possibility, that conscious- 
ness may be a late acquirement of the Ego. 

CONSCIOUSNESS A LATE ACQUIREMENT 

The latest acquirement of the Ego, would naturally 
be one which in the long course of evolution, had 



CONSCIOUSNESS 141 

not yet reached perfection. As a perfected acquire- 
ment of the Ego, consider the control it has gained 
over the organs. As life depended upon the crea- 
tion and control of these organs, this acquirement 
must have been the first after the Soul's feat of uniting 
with matter. Being the first, this control has now 
attained such automatic perfection and endurance, 
that at times it continues for a hundred years or more. 

Not so with the consciousness. Periodically it 
stops to rest in the act of sleeping ; and this may be 
simply because the condition is too new and diffi- 
cult, to be kept up continuously. That conscious- 
ness is really absent to a certain extent during 
sleep, and resting perhaps, is proved by the fact, 
that in dreams, even the greatest absurdities do not 
appear incongruous. That is, for the moment, Soul 
seems to have sunk back into the animal condition, 
since to an animal, nothing can appear incongruous. 

There are times when consciousness does remain 
active in sleep and permits one to realize the act of 
dreaming, without waking up. This indicates that 
even in sleep Soul at times possesses a finer strength 
than usual. This relation of sleep to the conscious- 
ness is a most interesting one. It suggests that 
there is a sleep of the body and one of the Soul, 
and that these are not obliged to take place at the 
same time. The body's sleep indeed, really means 
that the Soul is set free from many of its duties for 
the time being, and may not be excusable for failing 
to recognize the incongruous element in dreams. 
The " sound, dreamless sleep " takes on a different 
meaning in this light. 



142 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

The development of the consciousness begins with 
the first hour of the child's birth, and seems to be 
one of the reasons for the Soul's union with matter. 
If not interfered with, this development goes steadily 
on until death. There must be some serious reason 
then for this awakening of this state. Many things 
interfere with this awakening, that yet get no 
criticism of their influence. Naturally this retard- 
ing of the development must bring results of some 
kind. The most common result is seen in the hosts 
of commonplace personalities, which the world 
accepts as a part of the " plan " of existence. But if 
Soul has lived forever, it would seem as if by this 
time it might have got past this extreme condition, 
if there had been something besides drudgery, or 
trivial interests or vicious surroundings to arouse 
the subconsciousness. 

RELATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS TO OLD AGE 

There is one result that will probably be finally 
laid to stifling the consciousness, in which all are 
interested ; and that is old age, in the sense of 
decaying faculties, judgment, interests, etc. Hosts 
of people as age creeps on, are of little satisfaction 
to themselves or others, simply because nothing of 
their subconscious individuality has been aroused 
excepting that absolutely necessary for the com- 
monest needs of life. Even the material needs of 
life, make demands enough to keep the Soul some- 
what alive for a time ; but as the years pass on, 
the demands and interests which naturally pertain 
to youth and keep the Soul active, drop away. If 



CONSCIOUSNESS 143 

then there has been present only these interests in 
the lives of these persons, they are left with nothing 
to turn to and with a sense of unimportance, of 
being dropped out of the scheme of living, that is in 
itself a death-blow. 

Gradually, all the marvelous possibilities with 
which the commonest Soul is equipped at birth, have 
sunk deeper into the subconsciousness from lack of 
exercise, and the individual, having nothing to turn 
to, settles back into some such condition as the sea 
would attain if perfect rest and quiet could come to 
it. If the theory of reincarnation be a fact, this is 
the condition that would seem to demand its assist- 
ance after death. 

The illusions of youth in such a case, have all 
vanished of course, though often they were not 
beyond the reach in the least. The world is full of 
men and women, who are preparing for this condi- 
tion, because they can see nothing in this beautiful 
though sad life, but the few little interests to which 
they have been always tied, like a slave. And yet, 
in the humblest Soul there existed some capacity 
whose cultivation would have saved them from the 
commonplace and brought for them a consideration 
due to something more creditable than mere age 
itself. 

There is no call whatever for the Soul to grow 
old though it should never remain childish. 1 It is 

*It is a shame to debase this word childish by applying it to a 
state of stagnation, of which the child has no knowledge. It is the 
same mistake as that of applying the word brutish to human traits 
of which an animal would be ashamed. 



144 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

only the loss of this vitality of the Ego which makes 
the objectionable difference between youth and age 
— youth with his keen eyes delightedly pursuing, 
pressing on in every possible direction, full of 
courage and a divine interest ; old age, soured, in- 
different, narrowed into the smallest possible rut of 
purely personal interests. 

The first is what it means to be " a boy " — keen- 
eyed full of interest in everything new, hating 
monotony as the great Force hates it, ambitious to 
do whatever any one else can do, equal to any 
amount of endurance in discomfort or disaster, if 
only it is proved to be worth while. These qualities 
never need to be lost. The interests of youth can- 
not continue to arouse them, but as life passes still 
other interests as keen arise if one is taught to see 
and appreciate them. 

It has been a great misfortune for humanity, that 
it accepted this change from the vitality of youth to 
the usual condition of old age, as something that 
was intended for the race. Fortunately the Psyche 
seems at last to have taken the subject in hands 
herself and refuses longer to be put under a ban of 
decrepitude. But there are a multitude of necessi- 
ties to be considered besides saying, " I will not 
grow old." It is the greatest mistake to suppose 
that this habit of the race is to be evaded 
by will power alone or by the persistent repe- 
tition of shibboleths. It is only by understand- 
ing the laws which govern the Soul and obey- 
ing them, that one can gain freedom in any direc- 
tion. 



CONSCIOUSNESS 145 

THE CHANGE FROM THE SUBCONSCIOUS TO THE 
CONSCIOUS STATE 

The extent to which the consciousness can be 
developed in a generation, varies with each in- 
dividual. There are limits in every case ; but even 
the most limited conditions furnish more means for 
this development than are ever used. The awaken- 
ing of the subconsciousness with all its latent 
capacities into the conscious state is really the 
meaning of education ; but the idea of an awaken- 
ing is too often lost sight of in the anxiety to have 
the child learn everything that has ever been dis- 
covered. This and memory examinations will make 
the desired effect impossible. 

It is also a great, though common mistake to 
arouse one or two capacities or traits of the subcon- 
scious at the expense of all the others ; as the busi- 
ness life too often cultivates only "the eye to the 
main chance " and leaves the rest of the personality 
as barren as the desert of Sahara ; or as the cultivation 
of some special art, crowds out even ordinary culture. 

Again, this state of consciousness does not mean 
developing the characteristics in some haphazard 
order, as when society seems to centre all interests 
upon the one idea of love and marriage to the 
neglect of a host of considerations that should have 
had the first attention. Neither does it mean wak- 
ing this sleeping giant of individuality without 
strenuous efforts to have each trait or capacity 
understood and controlled as it is developed : just as 
the warrior would take account of his weapons and 
perfect himself in using them. 



146 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

Wherever the subconscious self is being roused 
into activity without attention to these and many 
other requirements, the result is often most unfor- 
tunate. All the antagonistic tendencies of many 
ancestors, are to-day being aroused into undisci- 
plined life, and are struggling for mastery within the 
confines of this young, untried, often dismayed 
Soul's existence. Often, no provision whatever has 
been made for understanding these conditions. Too 
often, the youth of to-day is wakened into the 
intensest vitality by modern influences, but given no 
hints — when he would have listened — of the mean- 
ings of life. He finds himself then, with a host of 
undisciplined, uncomprehended instincts and ideals 
demanding attention and with no conception of 
what is to be done. Often, the battle must be 
fought out entirely alone, with no knowledge of the 
weapons or the way in which it must be fought. 

This deplorable situation is due mainly to some 
strange fear of paternalism, in those who control 
youth. In consequence, the important duties of 
knowledge of self, and the acquirement of self-con- 
trol are left in the hands of youth itself, whether 
equal to the responsibility or not. 

Is self-reliance then the most important of 
all the virtues? So important, that it must be 
gained, even at the expense of purity, fine ap- 
preciation and self-control ? Is youth to be " thrown 
upon its own responsibility " when the sense is 
not even created? This development of the con- 
sciousness is really the Soul's method of growing 
and should be studied as the physician studies the 



CONSCIOUSNESS 147 

growth of the body. It must be as well defined 
an act, and as subject to natural laws. The 
state of the Soul also, in both consciousness and 
subconsciousness must be as well defined as the 
various states of the body. If then this develop- 
ment is of the nature of growing, in the Soul, we 
should be having some logical idea of the meaning 
of such growing. 

THE SOUL'S GROWTH 

In the body, growing is a constant action, which 
adds cell after cell to the component parts of 
every kind. But as far as we know anything about 
it, the growth of Soul has nothing to do with 
increase of size. Instead, it means development in 
capacity and in control ; in its power to gain a 
keener appreciation of all things and in its power to 
will all necessary acts, mental, moral and physical. 
Naturally if the growth of the Ego is associated 
only with increase in size, many necessities will be 
lost sight of that will be discovered if this growth is 
regarded in some other light. 

We call the body grown when it has reached a 
certain height, no matter what its condition or the 
condition of the Soul within it. This height it can- 
not lose, except in spinal troubles. But the Soul 
can grow to great heights and then lose it all — sink 
into corresponding depths of degradation. We 
cannot see the Soul, but this loss is evident to every 
one. One who could see the Soul, would also see 
the character of the loss and would realize that it 
would not be a diminution in size. 



148 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

In this case then, it is well not to keep too close to 
the correspondence between Soul and body. The 
first care of this growth should be in the hands only 
of one who has also a most practical knowledge of 
life and human nature. It is more than the scien- 
tific knowledge at present attained, that is wanted 
in this case, though it is true that the human Soul 
pays as exact and unfailing obedience to certain 
undiscovered laws as do the elements to the laws 
revealed in chemistry. But the Science of Human 
Nature is yet to be written and the Chair yet to be 
established. When these laws are discovered, the 
scientific study that will follow will be invaluable. 

At present, it is a study of Soul itself through 
human nature that is needed, instead of treatises 
upon this and similar subjects. In every institution 
above the grammar grade, the study of human nature 
should be a part of the course. But the subject 
should never be placed in the hands of those who 
live among books all the time. Only those who 
have been in the closest contact with many varieties 
of characters, and who possess great intuition and 
keen but intelligent sympathies, can do the difficult 
work that is required so seriously in this direc- 
tion. 

Many facts, influences, motives, intricate situa- 
tions, which are entirely beyond the range of the 
physical senses, are needing to be understood here. 
Every youth, for instance, needs to understand how 
real a factor heredity is and yet how completely it 
can be conquered, when necessary, if one will only 
cultivate his own strength. Still more each one 



CONSCIOUSNESS 149 

needs to understand the character of this strength. 
There exists an idea that strength means only will 
power ; that one needs only to will to conquer, and 
the deed is done. But this is not true on the 
physical plain. No one doubts the will of the 
drowning man to be saved ; but the will can never 
teach him to swim. The conditions of life which 
have to be conquered obey exactly the same law. 
One temptation is to be met with one mental or 
moral acquirement, another with another. Each 
being needs to enter each stage of the battle of life, 
with some knowledge of what he is to meet in every 
direction, and with a knowledge of the qualities he 
possesses that will enable him to be the master of 
his life, and of the hidden weaknesses that may 
betray him. 

RELATION OF THE CHILD'S VITALITY TO CON- 
SCIOUSNESS 

For the first two or three years of the child's life, 
the vitality which it brought with it performs 
somewhat of its normal work in arousing, day by 
day, the subconscious state, so that others may dis- 
cover its nature. Why this development should not 
go steadily on, why this vitality should so often 
lessen instead of increasing, or why its increase 
should so often be only in undesirable directions, 
these are burning questions. But they are to be 
answered only through an understanding of the laws 
and conditions which govern the Soul. 

Such a knowledge would reveal exactly the con- 
ditions and habits which are interfering — often 



150 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

unnoticed — with this divine vitality ; also what is 
cultivating it in the wrong direction, or what abuses 
it, after it has been brought to a high degree of 
efficiency. At present, this important subject of the 
Soul, as Soul, is in the hands of many who know 
nothing about it, except that it is to be " saved "; 
and when the " lake of fire " is given up do not 
even know from what it is to be saved. The loss 
of this divine vitality, capable of interest in every 
direction, is the danger from which the Soul is to be 
saved, and any system or method which lessens a 
single healthy interest in the child should be severely 
criticised. Turn all other most important interests 
then into the hands of tyros, if it must be ; but keep 
the domain where the first steps of this change 
from the subconscious are being made, in the care 
of only the broadest experience and the intensest 
interest. Let the affairs of church and state be 
farmed out to incapacity, if it must be ; let the need 
to earn a living, or any other personal need override 
all other tests of fitness in these positions ; but 
protect rigorously the development of the helpless 
Soul of childhood from all such invasions. The 
rights of the little child stand above all others. 

The first right is the protection of this vitality 
which it brought with it at birth. This vitality 
should of course be kept free from all objection- 
able qualities, but never stifled by any process. 
It is this stifling process, which makes humanity 
commonplace and, when carried too far, degraded. 
The average young child is not commonplace ; but 
by the time it has reached the age of ten, it has 



CONSCIOUSNESS 151 

become noticeably so, if not worse. The conditions 
which permit this are as criminal as those which 
sap physical strength. 

The subconscious self of the commonest Soul to- 
day, if permitted to see the light, would have some- 
thing distinctly marked in its individuality that 
would prove interesting to eyes accustomed to look 
below the surface of human nature. This is be- 
cause the latent capacities of every Soul are un- 
numbered. 

This necessary vitality of the child is to be kept 
intact by creating a variety of interests and capaci- 
ties strong enough to keep the attention turned 
from the common, vicious attractions. Above all 
other methods, train the fingers, that most marvel- 
ous part of all the details in the soul's gymnasium. 
Every habit of doing is accompanied with a degree 
of vitality and the training would be the easiest 
of all to gain the child's attention, if begun early 
enough. 1 Every child comes into the world with a 
certain amount of ability to be attracted by what- 
ever is presented to it. This is what its curious 
questions upon every subject mean, and this ca- 
pacity for most varied interests is the most sacred 
of all its possessions. Properly cultivated, this ca- 

1 In all public institutions for children as well as in asylums and 
reformatories, manual training of every description, for both sexes, 
is the most needed of all the methods in use. A hundred small 
interests that would protect from temptation as well as habits that 
would be most valuable, could be getting attention through this 
training in the use of the fingers. The opportunities which these 
homes furnish for this training, is exceptional, but of course it 
must be in the care of only the most practically trained minds. 






152 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

pacity both protects from temptation, and furnishes 
the strength to conquer it when protection ceases 
to be the first need. 

The mere act of putting off or hushing up this 
endless questioning, is the first step that invariably 
begins to sap the extent, if not the intensity of 
this vitality. Something from the subconsciousness 
which stirred into momentary activity, has been 
pushed back into indifference ; a window has been 
closed from which the eager Soul could have looked 
out and gained another interest to meet its multi- 
tudinous needs. When this variety of interests is 
narrowed down to a few commonplace tastes— if 
not worse — as the child advances into its teens, it 
is never the fault of the child, but of those in charge 
who do not know how to arouse the best self and 
its capacities. 

Vitality is the Ego's natural instinct. The Soul 
means vitality. One of the strongest arguments 
for the necessity of keeping this intact is seen in 
the fact that weakness of any kind, mental, moral 
and physical gets severer punishment than delib- 
erate wrong-doing, which often means ignorance 
rather than weakness. As long as there is strength 
and vitality there is a chance for reform as soon 
as the right influences are discovered. But where 
there is little or no life in the Ego there is little 
hope. The Soul's life consists in the variety and 
intensity of its interests. These can be lessened 
in various ways, but each means assisting at the 
death of a Soul. 

One may fail to cultivate in the child the ability 



CONSCIOUSNESS 153 

to appreciate the thousands of innocent inspirations 
which exist ; one may make it impossible for these 
interests to be gratified when they do exist ; but 
the consequences are unfailing. A divine Soul must 
have something to occupy it and vice is the cheap- 
est, the easiest and the most available of all means 
of interest. It is the wrong habits which are the 
easy habits, and which require no training of the 
mental or physical muscle to make them attractive. 
They are such things as many a bright animal 
could be taught to acquire ; while most of rightful 
interests do necessitate careful training to make 
them a part of the Ego. Drinking is an instance, 
and competes so successfully, because it requires 
absolutely no strength of character or mentality to 
form the habit. 

This is why the first years of childhood should be 
devoted to creating a variety of innocent interests, 
rather than in much of the drudgery indulged in 
during the early years of school life. Awaken the 
child's vitality, and the lessons over which it pores 
so laboriously in these first years, will presently 
come to it without an effort. 

In the ranks of life where it is all work and little 
chance for decent play, the subconscious self of the 
little child may be quivering into intensest life 
without a situation being furnished to meet its 
needs — that is worthy the attention of any human 
Soul. At present it is not so much the impossi- 
bility to improve these conditions that is deplor- 
able. It is the general indifference to the condi- 
tions — due to the illogical mind which translates, 



154 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

what Christ probably meant as a scathing proph- 
ecy, into a command to have the poor always with us. 

The absence of so many of the momentary in- 
terests of more fortunate classes, would naturally 
create an intense hunger for excitement of any 
kind. This hunger exists even where means to 
gratify are plenty, because the ability to appreciate 
has not been cultivated. How much more insistent 
then must it be in the ranks of poverty. 

It is a serious question whether this craving for 
excitement, this anxiety to witness accidents, blood- 
shed, horrors may be due so much to " morbidness " 
as to the conditions of a cramped Soul which has 
no other way to stretch itself. This anxiety, in- 
deed, mav be the sign of even a higher condition 
than exists in those who condemn it. It means vi- 
tality, at least ; an ability to be interested which 
has been given no opportunity to know of higher 
forms of interest. Is it not true that many who 
have had every opportunity, show no higher tastes ? 
Of course, as long as it is held necessary to furnish 
at the top of educational systems far greater wealth 
of provision . than any student can fully absorb, 
there must be for those at the bottom only the 
barest necessities and often not the time or training 
to profit by them. But at least a just criticism 
could be accorded to these and only such demands 
made of them as would correspond with their op- 
portunities. Is it not true, however, that those 
with the fewest chances for education are more 
severely criticised for their mistakes, than those 
who have every opportunity ? 



CHAPTER XVI 

CHARACTER OF THE CHANGE FROM SUBCON- 
SCIOUSNESS TO CONSCIOUSNESS 

When the child enters life, its true self lies 
gripped in the meshes of the subconscious, waiting, 
like Vedder's " Bound Soul " to be set free and live 
its best life, instead of reaching the end of this ex- 
istence without even discovering the meaning of its 
real self. 

The real self of every Soul must be all the 
best of which it would be capable in a right en- 
vironment. It means the highest average of all 
the combined better instincts and capacities. But 
the finer traits may be so controlled by a worse in- 
heritance that it would take a lifetime, if unaided, 
to demonstrate their existence to the world, which 
always judges superficially. To set such Souls free, 
it would be necessary to understand as far as pos- 
sible the exact character of the change from the 
subconscious to the conscious state and the character 
of the states themselves as a specialist would un- 
derstand the various states and changes of the body. 
The needed influences must also be understood, and 
it must be remembered that each one's list of the 
good influences to be used must be far from com- 
plete, when compared with such a list as Omnis- 
cience must possess. 

155 



156 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

This state of the Soul, in both the subconscious 
and conscious condition, can be only a subject for 
the most daring speculation, at present ; the inves- 
tigation must be undertaken, however, and one 
thought offers itself for the first step. That is, 
surely the way in which the Soul responds to the 
various influences to which it is subjected must 
have something to tell of the states in which it ex- 
ists. One set of influences to which all Souls are 
being incessantly subjected is the constant stream 
of ether vibrations, through the sensory nerves. 
As stated so often, these vibrations mean an infinite 
variety of motions, to which Soul responds in some 
way. The way of this response then, would surely 
define at least one state of the subconscious and 
conscious self. While it is impossible to prove that 
this response is one of motion in the Soul, yet vi- 
brations do make and intensify this state. This 
forces one to consider the possibility that the 
change from one state to the other may be really a 
change in a rate of motion in the Soul. Such a fact 
would reveal, as nothing else can, the great diffi- 
culties in education and reform, which even the ig- 
norant feel quite equal to attacking. 

ARGUMENT FOR THE CHANGE BEING IN RATES OF 

MOTION 

It will be at least interesting to follow out this 
suggestion that the coining out from the subcon- 
scious state may be exactly the same act as when 
one presently becomes conscious of a faint, contin- 
uous sound, which at first may have only created a 



CHANGE FKOM SUBCONSCIOUSNESS 157 

sense of discomfort. This consciousness of the 
sound is due either to the fact that the vibrations 
become intenser, or the Soul wider awake because 
of their insistence. Before the Soul becomes con- 
scious of the sound it was having its effect upon 
the subconsciousness ; and the Soul was coming out 
of this state when it recognized the noise, (because 
either itself or the noise became intenser). Con- 
sciousness means just this recognition of something 
going on in the subconscious, of which it previously 
knew nothing. It seems most reasonable then to 
consider that this " something " is an increased in- 
tensity of motion in the subconsciousness. 

Again, as one watches the dawning of day, there 
is a change going on in the Soul and the nerves, 
which corresponds to that which is going on in the 
ether as day approaches. This change in the ether 
is an increase in the swiftness and shortness of its 
undulations until they reach the hundreds of mil- 
lions a second, which mean the clear light of day. 
In the semi-darkness of the early dawn, this neces- 
sary degree of swiftness is still absent, (which may 
account for the charm of this hour to weary Souls). 
The Soul's rate of vitality, is also less intense at 
this hour simply because of this condition of the 
ether, upon which it depends for much of its vi- 
tality. 

Now in watching the dawn, as the ether undula- 
tions increase in intensity, the nerve action increases 
also, and with them the Soul's action, whatever its 
character. Then when the ether has reached the 
exact number of undulations a second which means 



158 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

the impression of light in the Soul, Soul has also 
reached the necessary point and sees light. It can- 
not be denied that this change bears a close re- 
semblance to the moment when some part of the 
subconsciousness of which one was ignorant, sud- 
denly makes its presence known as daylight has 
done. 1 

Science has declared that light is simply an im- 
pression upon the brain. But this illustration com- 
pels one to acknowledge that it may be also an 
act of the Soul, meaning this motion for which so 
many reasons have been presented in this study. 
"When one is blind, it is far more reasonable to as- 
sume that it is because the ether rays cannot reach 
the Soul (through the eye or optic nerve), and cre- 
ate in it the change which means light. 2 In the 
case of the light, as of the sound, the change from 
darkness goes on in the subconsciousness as well as 
in the ether ; and light meant that the Soul re- 
sponded to the higher rate of motion in the ether 
which created it. This would mean that Soul was 
something more than some nebulous entity — a 
" stream," a " light "—subject to no law, and re- 
quiring no treatment but the poetic or religious ; 

1 It would distract attention to bring further reasons in this il- 
lustration, for considering that a gradual chaDge had taken place 
in the Soul, instead of a sudden one when light at last appeared. 
This entire subject of this change from the subconscious requires 
far more extended treatment than seems best here. 

2 When science finds a way — as it will — to bring these ether 
vibrations to the Soul, without the aid of eyeball or optic nerve, 
the blind will see. They do this already in dreaming, where the 
eyeball at least is dispensed with. 



CHANGE FROM SUBCONSCIOUSNESS 159 

that it may indeed be an entity which can think 
and feel and at the same time respond to and gen- 
erate force. 

This is of course a very crude presentation, and 
inconceivably inadequate ; but it is of a practical 
nature, and can therefore be subjected to tests. 

The courage to keep insisting upon this mode of 
motion in Soul, and this change from one intensity 
of vibration to another, has been upheld by the 
fact that this incessant state of vibration exists in 
another entity, seemingly as ethereal as the Soul ; 
that is the ether. This would mean that vibration 
is not incompatible with the meaning of ethereal. 

RESEMBLANCES BETWEEN SOUL AND ETHER 

There are also other interesting resemblances be- 
tween the ether and Soul which encourage one to 
carry the argument still further. The extreme sen- 
sitiveness of this ether to all conditions — seemingly 
— is a characteristic possessed in a degree by the 
Soul whose nerves have been thoroughly exercised 
in many directions and at the same time controlled. 
(The ether at least knows nothing of that weakness 
called nervous prostration.) This resemblance then, 
gives some license for attributing to the ethereal 
Soul such mechanical characteristics as modes of 
motion ; especially, since next to the Soul the ether 
is the most wonderful of all creations. 

While the ether is a very real entity, it can only 
make its presence known through its vibrations. 
Soul also, at present can only reveal its existence 
through its actions (even to itself). Our conscious- 



160 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

ness of the ether action, increases also with the in- 
crease of its motion in going from heat to elec- 
tricity. This means the same increase in intensity 
of motion which is suggested in this change from 
one state of the Soul to the other. 1 

There are other ethereal entities whose existence 
can only become known through modes of motion, 
so proving further that this characteristic is not in- 
compatible with the ethereal. For instance, time 
is a very real thing, but its existence can only be 
demonstrated by a motion — of heavenly bodies, or 
of the force stored in the spring which controls the 
hands of the timepiece. Electricity is a very real 
thing, and when stored, gives no more hint of its 
presence than does the subconscious thinking, 
usually. But this is because its presence can only 
be demonstrated by the intensest rate of vibration. 
It is in this same way that the existence of 

1 Many years before this interesting resemblance between the 
ether and the Soul discovered itself to me, the fancy that this ether 
might be the combined Soul stuff of the Universe persisted in 
intruding. 

The idea is only presented here as an instance of the subcon- 
scious working. These resemblances had doubtless been discovered 
and worked out in the subconsciousness with the final deduction 
complete ; but for some reason, only the deduction made itself 
known at first. 

The latent reasoning process which led to this deduction finally 
came into view through a degree of intensity which had nothing 
whatever to do with trying to prove that the ether and Souls are 
one : fascinating as is the possibility, proof for or against is not for 
this age of development. 

Humanity must have many such instances of subconscious effort 
to offer, that would throw still further light upon this wonderful 
creation, the human Soul. 



CHANGE FROM SUBCONSCIOUSNESS 161 

the subconsciousness seems able to demonstrate it- 
self. 

The change means a growing, or lessening degree 
of capacity — here to-day, gone to-morrow to come 
back later in full force when the Soul is more alive. 

« 

In this unseen self, something is developing, some- 
thing sinking back into the automatic, every 
moment of existence ; and all call for a word which 
means motion. 

Electricity, light, heat, all sink into a subcon- 
scious state whenever the rate of ether vibrations is 
lowered, just as the Soul reverts to the subcon- 
scious condition in the "sound dreamless sleep." 
What name then will describe this change from 
one state of the Soul to the other, if not one indi- 
cating motion ? 

FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS 

The illustrations which have been given so far 
are all due to the action of material agents. But 
the Soul grows also through the agency of thoughts 
and truths. One response to these influences is the 
act of thinking, and in this act, there are often 
most positive suggestions of motion. The word is 
used here without discrimination, to designate any 
mental act, as remembering for instance. The act 
of recovering a lost memory often seems accom- 
panied with intense motion. (Of course those who 
cannot agree that it is the Soul which thinks must 
attribute the act to mind or brain. Proof is at 
present impossible in both the cases.) 

Thinking is often a subconscious act and does 



162 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

not make its existence known until the process is 
finished or nearly so. In this last case, an impres- 
sion is received that something is coming to the 
consciousness, as a faint but persistent noise gradu- 
ally catches the attention. When a thought is 
struggling for expression, (even before one knows 
its nature) this sensation becomes more evident. 
Any one who has watched such a thought, realizes 
that its effort to rise out of the subconscious was 
very plainly a struggle. But in what form was this 
action carried on ? A thought is a very real thing ; 
but it is not a material object, with shape and size 
and the power to struggle as a material entity does. 
This sense of effort then, must be accounted for in 
some other way than by comparison with the ma- 
terial object. 

If the thought used in this connection be a mu- 
sical one, its effect in creating motion in the Soul 
will be more evident. The musical thought exists 
first in the subconsciousness of the composer, just as 
any other thought does. But even after he has be- 
come conscious of it in every detail, it could not 
become audible to him, or others without the aid 
of instruments or voice. Music is a very real thing, 
but its existence can be recognized, by the listener 
at least, only in the form of unnumbered vibrations. 
These vibrations can be made so faint as to be 
scarcely heard at all, and they cease entirely to the 
listener when the instruments stop. But the com- 
poser is still hearing them in the eerie voice to be 
described in " Hearing Self Think." The tones ex- 
isted also in his subconsciousness even before this. 



CHANGE FKOM SUBCONSCIOUSNESS 163 

When then did they cease to be vibrations, if they 
are not vibrations in this state of the Soul ? 

We know that the musical thought was in the 
form of a vibration when it reached us from the in- 
struments. We have no conception of any other 
form in which it could have existed before being 
taken up by the instruments, and yet it must have 
existed. All that voice and instrument do, how- 
ever, is to increase the intensity of conditions 
already existing, just as the audiphone increases the 
intensity of vibrations. This increased effect is 
brought about in the Soul of the composer also, 
who without it had only an inaudible consciousness 
of his composition. It is most reasonable to assume 
then that in the subconsciousness, the composition 
existed in a still fainter form of vibrations, which 
even the composer himself no longer heard at 
times. 

If one state of the subconsciousness could be rep- 
resented by a degree of vibration, others could also. 
This point of view would bring out again the un- 
doubted value to the subconsciousness of the sen- 
sory nerves. 

Again, in sleep, the conscious state of the Soul 
seems to sink back into the subconscious one which 
seems to indicate that the conscious state is an 
effort similar to that in any motion. It is true that 
consciousness remains awake during the day on ac- 
count of its vitality ; and this vitality is kept up by 
the constant stream of impressions through the 
nervous system, which are claiming its attention 
every moment. At night, this stream is shut out, 



162 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

not make its existence known until the process is 
finished, or nearly so. In this last case, an impres- 
sion is received that something is coming to the 
consciousness, as a faint but persistent noise gradu- 
ally catches the attention. When a thought is 
struggling for expression, (even before one knows 
its nature) this sensation becomes more evident. 
Any one who has watched such a thought, realizes 
that its effort to rise out of the subconscious was 
very plainly a struggle. But in what form was this 
action carried on ? A thought is a very real thing ; 
but it is not a material object, with shape and size 
and the power to struggle as a material entity does. 
This sense of effort then, must be accounted for in 
some other way than by comparison with the ma- 
terial object. 

If the thought used in this connection be a mu- 
sical one, its effect in creating motion in the Soul 
will be more evident. The musical thought exists 
first in the subconsciousness of the composer, just as 
any other thought does. But even after he has be- 
come conscious of it in every detail, it could not 
become audible to him, or others without the aid 
of instruments or voice. Music is a very real thing, 
but its existence can be recognized, by the listener 
at least, only in the form of unnumbered vibrations. 
These vibrations can be made so faint as to be 
scarcely heard at all, and they cease entirely to the 
listener when the instruments stop. But the com- 
poser is still hearing them in the eerie voice to be 
described in " Hearing Self Think." The tones ex- 
isted also in his subconsciousness even before this. 



CHANGE FROM SUBCONSCIOUSNESS 163 

When then did they cease to be vibrations, if they 
are not vibrations in this state of the Soul ? 

We know that the musical thought was in the 
form of a vibration when it reached us from the in- 
struments. We have no conception of any other 
form in which it could have existed before being 
taken up by the instruments, and yet it must have 
existed. All that voice and instrument do, how- 
ever, is to increase the intensity of conditions 
already existing, just as the audiphone increases the 
intensity of vibrations. This increased effect is 
brought about in the Soul of the composer also, 
who without it had only an inaudible consciousness 
of his composition. It is most reasonable to assume 
then that in the subconsciousness, the composition 
existed in a still fainter form of vibrations, which 
even the composer himself no longer heard at 
times. 

If one state of the subconsciousness could be rep- 
resented by a degree of vibration, others could also. 
This point of view would bring out again the un- 
doubted value to the subconsciousness of the sen- 
sory nerves. 

Again, in sleep, the conscious state of the Soul 
seems to sink back into the subconscious one which 
seems to indicate that the conscious state is an 
effort similar to that in any motion. It is true that 
consciousness remains awake during the day on ac- 
count of its vitality ; and this vitality is kept up by 
the constant stream of impressions through the 
nervous system, which are claiming its attention 
every moment. At night, this stream is shut out, 



164 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

and sleep of the consciousness follows sooner or 
later. 

This stream of impressions from the sensory 
nerves is a stream of vibrations to which the Soul 
responds in a degree of vitality. The absence of 
this stream means the lowered tone of the vitality. 
As said before, waking from sleep is the same as 
the coming from the subconsciousness. But waking 
also means the return of this stream of impressions 
and this certainly means the heightened degree of 
intensity in the Soul, which is being insisted upon 
so monotonously. 

The Soul then, may be always practicing itself 
below the condition of consciousness and may be 
aided by every influence in its environment that 
spurs to action. We cannot discern the changes 
which are going on except in the two phenomena 
of this third set, " Hearing One's Self Think " 
and Dreams ; but we see the results of the 
changes hourly in every form of action and expres- 
sion. 

THE NEED TO INCREASE THE SOUL'S VITALITY 

If this subconscious self should exist in the form 
of a lessened rate of vibration, it would seem that 
it is to be aroused by increasing the Ego's vitality 
in all legitimate ways. In this way this eerie part 
of the self could gain recognition, and be put in 
a better condition to manage life. This point of 
view would bring out most forcibly the inestimable 
value of the sensory nerves also in education. 
Even if it cannot be proved that these nerves 



CHANGE FROM SUBCONSCIOUSNESS 165 

waken the subconscious state by increasing its rate 
of vibration they do arouse it. 

This is the important mission of these sensory 
nerves. The Soul whose subconscious state makes 
up the greater part of its individuality, is not awake. 
Not being awake, means that it cannot be influenced 
by such abstract things as truths or ideas. For such 
Souls, the nerves must be the first agents used to 
arouse interest, just as the sleeper must be aroused 
by sound, light or touch before something can be 
communicated. The Salvation Army has realized 
this fact, better than the educator and most religion- 
ists. It rouses the subconsciousness with a clash of 
musical instruments, before undertaking to present 
an idea. 

It is not the multiplication of libraries that is 
needed to-day, so much as unlimited bands of music 
to parade the slums at stated intervals and arouse 
the stunted consciousness as only stirring music 
can. The half-asleep Soul can profit by only the 
lowest forms of ideas to be presented through 
books ; but all can be somewhat aroused by sound 
or color, and both are so scarce in the lives of the de- 
frauded classes. 

The share which mines, tenement houses and 
slums have in shutting out life from the Soul, could 
be better understood, if Soul grows first through 
communicated vibrations, instead of through ab- 
sorbing facts or ideas. Also many means for miti- 
gating these conditions until they could be removed 
altogether, would appear. 

If it were true that the vitality of the Soul like 



166 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

that of the ether, is expressed by motion, then con- 
sciousness would be represented by vibrations of 
sufficient intensity to make their existence known, 
as the presence of light or of a louder sound is 
made known. The subconscious would mean a de- 
gree of intensity in the Soul too faint for recogni- 
tion ; as faint vibrations of any kind fail to attract 
attention, and mean also a lessened degree of vi- 
tality. 

The change from the subconscious to the con- 
sciousness then, would mean, as suggested, a change 
from one degree of intensity or vitality in soul ac- 
tion to another. Incongruous as this may seem, 
both the practicalness of the idea and its reason- 
ableness have much to be said for them. 

If this development of the subconsciousness is 
partly due to exercise of the sensory nerves in num- 
berless directions, instead of to absorption, many 
systems of education, both religious and secular, 
need the closest scrutiny. There is an immense 
difference between training the Soul to respond to 
the highest and most intricate modes of motion, and 
training it to hold a multitude of facts. It is only 
packhorses that carry loads. 

The delicacy of the operation in the first instance 
must be evident. While it may not be the real 
operation, it cannot exaggerate the delicacy of treat- 
ment which must be necessary in this development. 
Probably no known word can express the necessary 
degree of care. An intricate muscular action is not 
cultivated by loading it down and neither is the 
intensity of a vibration so cultivated. Vitality also, 



CHANGE FROM SUBCONSCIOUSNESS 167 

is gained through exercise, and not through over- 
loading. This theory of development then, whether 
exactly true or not, expresses the dangers which 
really exist in many methods in present use. It 
expresses them also more clearly than can be done 
in any other way. The dangers are very real and 
need to be studied from every point of view. Their 
presence is responsible for the many failures to lift 
the human race to a level that corresponds some- 
what with the wealth of means being used. 

Humanity has no right to assume that a single 
Soul needs to make a complete failure of life. A 
measure of success to every individual should be 
insisted upon. Provision that is more than ample, 
has been furnished by the great Force for the devel- 
opment of the race. Suffering and the need to 
strive cannot of course be abolished but it should 
be properly distributed, and this work seems left to 
man. There are means enough for every Soul born 
to be educated into capacity for decent and reason- 
able living however humble ; and for every one to 
develop some of the latent capacity which is the 
Soul's prerogative. But it is necessary to discover 
and use all the influences which an omnipotent and 
omniscient Power has undoubtedly furnished. 



CHAPTER XVII 
"hearing one's self think" 

The expression is a very homely one ; but it is 
known to all, and describes the phenomenon it 
stands for, perfectly. It also represents one of the 
most interesting and the most significant of all the 
powers possessed by the Ego. 

Every one is of course acquainted with the condi- 
tion referred to in this expression. One is thinking 
or perhaps recalling some conversation, and there 
goes on — somewhere — an exact repetition of the 
words and sentences being used in the thinking. 
What one hears is not a voice, even of the faintest ; 
but it is just as distinct and gives not only each 
word, but each inflection, as perfectly as if the 
sentences were spoken aloud. Also, if the Ego 
happens to be noticing, it is just as conscious of this 
voice as if it were listening to spoken words. This 
is of course the origin of the expression of "the 
still, small voice " ; but I am referring to the instances 
where the phenomenon is undoubtedly due to the 
Soul's thinking only. Since it repeats every 
thought, good and bad, wise and foolish, it would 
require great discrimination to impute the words to 
any cause but the Soul of the listener. 

MEANING OF THIS PHENOMENON 

This phenomenon is too familiar for its importance 
to be noticed ; but it means two most interesting 

168 



"HEAKING ONE'S SELF THINK" 169 

facts. First, that it is possible to give an impression 
of words and sentences without the use of organs of 
speech, writing, signs, or muscle reading. This is 
the meaning of Telepathy — a new way of communi- 
cating. Second, that unspoken thoughts are carried 
back to the Soul and one is able to study himself, as 
in a mirror while in the act of thinking. This 
proves also that under certain conditions, it is possi- 
ble for the Soul to hear something which is not 
material. 

This fact was stated of course in the second 
powers ; but there, the ethereal entity was in the 
nature of ideas, the abstract. Now the Soul is 
hearing Soul itself ; which is certainly an important 
admission. True, it is only one's self that the Ego 
is hearing think ; but it is also of importance to 
prove that one can think (instead of speak) a mes- 
sage with sufficient intensity to be heard even by 
oneself. The words of course have not the objec- 
tive effect of the spoken ones, but they are as clear- 
cut and distinct. 

It is interesting to see any signs of thought power 
gaining sufficient strength to dispense with the aid 
of the body when anything is to be accomplished. 
It is by the aid of thought power alone that Soul 
will have to accomplish its purposes when death 
forces it to give up this most convenient physical 
form. 

It is of course the same thought power that is 
used in the spoken sentence ; but the organs of 
speech assist immensely in creating atmospheric 
vibrations intense enough to be heard. In " hearing 



170 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

one's self think " the Soul is now doing this work 
without this aid, and the voice is of the faintest. 
But no matter how faint, the Soul is demonstrating 
its power to set up ether vibration unaided by 
material means, unless it can be proved that the 
force is carried down the motor nerves, in this 
phenomenon. Even then, the assistance is so much 
lessened, that the Ego may be said to be demon- 
strating something of what it would be able to do 
in a disembodied state. It should be an interesting 
duty then to seek for the possibility of any further 
cultivation of this Soul strength so that the voice 
could be heard by some one else. 

This is the second instance of the Ego's thinking 
and willing power being used upon material things 
without the aid of material agents. Both mean a 
greater degree of strength in the Soul, and give one 
more suggestion of its capacities which should be 
exercised by education. 

ANOTHER TELEGRAPHIC SYSTEM 

As stated, this capacity to hear one's own think- 
ing means another telegraphic system, not dealing 
with objective conditions, but running from Soul 
back to itself. The significance of the fact may 
not be evident; but no fact can be unimportant 
that tells something about this mysterious Ego. In 
this system, the Soul is both the sender and the re- 
ceiver and the act is one more proof, that science 
has not yet said the last word about the phenomena 
of seeing and hearing. We have become so accus- 
tomed to material means for accomplishing our 



"HEAKING ONE'S SELF THINK" 171 

wishes, that it is hard to recognize other means 
which may lie right at hand. 

If this act should take place in a dream, the 
voice would then be heard objectively, as if it were 
a real one. The dream condition then, is something 
in the nature of an audiphone. If the scientific 
world would only take notes from this condition 
and construct a material audiphone for our thoughts ! 
Such an invention could be made very useful. 
Imagine this voice made objective in the waking 
hours. Each one could then discover exactly the 
condition in which his mental closets were kept. 
They would be a revelation to many. The jumble 
of disjointed, unfinished, undisciplined and useless 
thoughts, fancies, etc., that scurried hither and yon 
would reveal the secret of most failure, discourage- 
ment and weakness. 

It is really a portion of the subconscious self that 
is being revealed by this eerie voice in hearing one's 
self think ; the part that is most alive, of course. 
Doubtless the Soul is making this faint record of 
the unknown, subconscious self, all the time ; but if 
the attention is distracted, there may be hours 
when its work is not noticed. The phenomenon 
certainly helps to prove the intense activity of 
the subconsciousness ; it also seems to be the means 
that indicate the beginning of a change from 
the subconscious to the conscious. And lastly, it is 
a strong argument for a mode of motion in the 
Soul. 

This act of thinking, even when an unconscious 
one, affects something. If this something should 



-. a pract: 1 STUDY OF THE sorx 

be the atmosphere or ether, as in spoken words, 
tins must sen thai the Soul is able to create a 
vibration in these without the aid of the vocal 

777 I_r :i7 77 7f I. 57.7 - . 
::::t is z :: v. : _ r : 7 :zis ~ 7 77 7::*e 77:77 
77 ~_f: 7f :_ : __" :-.. : ; 7 :: is :: 

more f orcibly to mind. There is no single revela- 
tion about the condition and capacity of the Ego 
that could be more important than this one. 

zz.iz7rzzz : r ." rzz sttzz ; ; z~ ; . z 777-5 
I zis : - 1 r Z7\ _.:-"--- : . 



at that 

;_: ~7 7 



ticed. The thought also 

::x:-- ::.r :: 77 ----- 
— - - - - - - 



■hould cause it to become a consci* 

7 7 7 7i:ri7 _7^' - 1 ; 7 : : : : liilTi^l 

:i'- _:: 7577 7;: :zl- 777:7} 
eubar fact that one knows before h- 

77 777 :: 7 = 77-7 :-".= : ~.l- 71 
e discover that we know. When 

7 7 :-. 7: :: 7- 5 



"HEARING ONE'S SELF THINK" 173 

the auditory nerve just as a spoken sentence would 
have contributed motion. Also, the continued, un- 
noticed action below the surface, was in the nature 
of an exercise which in some way increased the 
intensity of this motion, as again the spoken thought 
would have increased it. Presently this intensity 
becomes sufficient to affect the ether, which flashes 
the thought around this tiny circuit, and the Ego 
discovers for the first time what it has been about. 

There are many other states in the keeping of the 
subconsciousness, than those which can be expressed 
by words and sentences. To demonstrate these 
other states, would require the aid of other nerves 
than the auditory. As a rule, however, it is only 
the auditory nerve which has this power ; why, is 
a question for science. 

It would not be possible in this bald statement, 
to give an impression of the real importance of this 
capacity of the Ego to hear its own unspoken 
thinking. But perhaps the imagination may be 
broadened as to its further extent and capacities, 
though even the amount of detail that is absolutely 
necessary to suggest the state of the Ego while in 
the body, may weary. The first object is to arouse 
the practical interest and the habit of investigating 
for one's self. 



chapter xyirr 

DKEAMiyw 

It must be distinctly understood that this studv 
has nothing whatever to do with the ordinary 
ignorant interest in dreams. The subject is intro- 
duced, because in dreaming one is seeing the Soul at 
work, instead of only hearing ( as in the previous 
phenomenon) and is getting a further glimpse of 
its powers that could be obtained in no other way. 
Also one can learn from one's dreams many inter 
ing, though not always complimentary, facts about 
one's own powers of concentration, clearness of 
perceptions, character and habits of thought, etc. 

When the eyes are closed iu sleep and all ou: 
influences are shut out from the physical nerves, the 
S dI proceeds to do a little work of its own, in the 
shape of dreams. This is a most interesting phe- 
nomenon, and still again suggests that our con- 
ceptions of the terms seeing and hearing, may need 
to be greatly extended. These terms must continue 
to be associated with nerves of some kind, since we 
know of no other means : but now we do not need 
to associate the acts always with brain or mind. 
The character of the nerves used, whether physical 
or soul nerves, cannot at present be decided, but it 
will be assumed during the consideration of this set 
of powers that it is the physical nerves which are 
doing the work. 

174 



DKEAMING 175 

CHARACTER OF THE AGENTS IN DREAMING 

It will be necessary first to discover the agent 
which is able to set these physical nerves to vibrating, 
when it is evident that material objects can have 
no opportunity to reach them. In the case of the 
optic nerve at least, it must be very plain that 
material influences are shut away from it in sleep 
and cannot be considered the cause of dream see- 
ing, even when laid to reflex action. If material 
agents are not the cause of the nerve vibrations in 
dreams, then ethereal ones must be the cause ; but 
nothing in the nature of " spirits " is meant in using 
the word ethereal. 

In the second powers also, it was pointed out that 
the agents were ethereal ; they were not however 
of the same nature as these which cause dreams. 
In the second powers, the agents were considered 
in the realm of the abstract — ideas, natural laws, 
truths. These do not have form and shape, as 
dream objects do, and can therefore have little to 
do with causing most of these. 

A second difference between the agents in the 
second and third powers, is more interesting still. 
In the second set, the cause of the impressions one 
receives, of whatever nature, seems to be without 
the Soul, something entirely independent of it. In 
dreams, the cause is not without at all, but seems 
evidently from the Soul itself. That is, the 
seeing and hearing of a dream, being due to nerve 
vibration of some kind, the Soul seems to be 
furnishing the force which sets up these vibra- 
tions. 



176 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

Three deductions follow if this be true, that call 
for attention. 

I. Both the second and third powers prove that 
the Soul is not confined to the ability to discern 
only material entities, as is usually assumed. The 
third set, indeed is full of suggestions as to a further 
cultivation of the Ego's capacities. 

II. Such phenomena seem to imply that man may 
not yet have placed the dividing line between spirit 
and matter in the right place. The origin or cause 
of any entity or phenomenon should have something 
to do with making this distinction. The origin of 
" spirit " is decided to be something not material ; 
but this is probably only the first of numberless 
steps yet to be taken in this definition. There may 
be then much to learn about spirit itself from enti- 
ties which have not been pronounced ethereal, 
though not material. Soul is not material, and even 
if not the cause of dreams, is the agent which makes 
them possible. 

III. These phenomena, as stated, give another 
instance which suggests that the Soul must be a 
generator of force, in some incomprehensible way, 
and that all kinds of sensory nerve action are due 
to motion — in the Soul itself. 

There can be no doubt as to the etherealness of 
the thought in dreams which Soul undoubtedly dis- 
cerns. Compare the dream of a friend with the 
real person. Kecall the dream of an interesting 
conversation. The friend was not there. The 
dreamer was not there, in the sense of a bodily 
presence. The conversation was only a mental 



DREAMS 177 

operation, resulting from the dreamer's own fancy, 
most likely. Could any phenomenon result from 
more ethereal causes ? 

The friend was no more than the shadow of a 
shade ; and yet, a form stood out in space seemingly 
as real as an actual one ; and the conversation may 
have been as interesting as a real one. When the 
conversation is remembered afterwards, it is easy to 
recognize the words as belonging to one's self. 
This suggests that in this case, the words were only 
an intenser form of " Hearing one's self think ; " 
also that all dreams are due to an intenser 
condition of the day memories, impressions, 
thoughts. Do these lie stored in nerves instead of 
in Soul? 

If any one possessed to a high degree, the capac- 
ity of sending a thought message, as in telepathy, 
it would be possible to have a dream which was due 
to the thinking of another, instead of one's own ; 
but it is not necessary to bring this up here. 

It is of more importance in this connection to see 
the reasonableness of considering that dreams are 
due to a condition and capacity of Soul which are 
not present in waking hours. 

SUGGESTIONS FROM DREAMS 

This would reveal several important facts about 
Soul, which might not have come to the surface 
readily in any other way. First that in sleeping, 
the Ego is able to see and hear its own memories, 
actions, thoughts, as it is conscious of them in wak- 
ing hours, but objectively now, as though they were 



178 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

without instead of within the brain. Conscious- 
ness then is a species of seeing which can 
become objective — a most important consideration. 
Second, that the Soul, in doing this is able to dis- 
pense with the organs of seeing and hearing, as it 
will have to dispense with them in a disembodied 
state. Third, that in sleep of the right kind, Soul 
possesses a greater capacity — in concentration per- 
haps — than when awake. 

As has been stated, these powers suggest that 
Soul is itself a generator of force, which is a most 
important possibility, that drives us to look further 
into the meaning of the senses, and the extent to 
which they may be developed. 

It cannot be denied that some of the claimed 
powers mean nothing more than an extension of the 
powers already possessed ; and a very slight exten- 
sion at that. If one can see and hear one's own 
thoughts under favorable circumstances, it is but a 
step more to seeing or hearing those of others, as in 
telepathy. 

This capacit} 7 ' to have vivid impressions in dreams, 
must be related to intuition, insight, imagination, 
etc. Many a book, picture, subject, situation, de- 
scription, fails to interest, not because it has not 
been presented clearly, but because the reader is 
mentally near-sighted. We do not require that Na- 
ture shall state her conditions and details in terms 
so distinct that the near-sighted shall appreciate as 
clearly as those with good eyes. Neither do we 
blame her, as author and artist are blamed, when 
the one looking is near-sighted. 



DREAMS 179 

OBJECTIVE EFFECT 

The peculiar vividness and reality of impressions 
in dreams, by which they seem at the moment to be 
real, is called the objective effect, as all know. A 
tree stands before us while we are awake and we 
see it. This is the objective effect. We think of 
this tree, when away from it, and perhaps recall it 
with remarkable distinctness ; the artist can even 
make a correct memory picture of it ; but he would 
never mistake this vivid impression for a real tree, 
as he would while dreaming. This is the subjective 
effect. 

Again, we dream of the tree, and now easily mis- 
take the impression for that of a real object. This 
is again the objective effect, but this time without a 
material cause to set it up : a memory or thought is 
now the agent. This last effect means that under 
certain conditions, so ethereal an entity as a thought 
has the same ability to create the objective effect 
that is found in material objects. The thought 
when one is awake does not have this ability, as a 
rule ; probably from lack of concentration. But in 
sleep the thinking is now able to make a greater 
effort, and create this quality in impressions which 
makes them seem real. Since we cannot be con- 
scious of our day thoughts in this vivid way, this 
means that in sleep, Soul possesses a greater capacity 
in some directions, than when awake. In some 
kinds of sleep, that is. 

This means also that in sleep, the optic nerve has 
now attained the degree of intensity which the 
auditory possesses in the waking hours, when Soul 



180 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

hears its own thinking. If the auditory nerve has 
now greater power than the optic, there may be also 
further capacity for the optic to reach. 

The value of this fact will be more evident in 
connection with the Soul's ability to live a conscious 
life without a physical body. The capacities Soul 
is to possess when separated from its useful servants 
the nerves, is really a practical question. It will 
begin to be solved, when we have learned whether 
Soul uses the physical nerves in this third set. 

A SEAECH FOR CAUSE OF THE OBJECTIVE EFFECT 

If it could be proved that dreams were only a 
more vivid repetition of the stream of memories, etc., 
passing always through the mind, we should only 
need to account for the objective effect, which means 
the realness and apparent solidity of the impres- 
sions, that for the moment completely deceive the 
dreamer. This real effect is absent in the day 
thinking, except in rare moments. Its presence in 
sleep is due to some quality in the vibrations of the 
nerves, that evidently cannot often be attained in 
the waking hours. 

This missing quality of the vibration is referred 
to in Memory. It is very difficult to decide 
what its character is, but its presence is demon- 
strated when one reads a printed page in a dream. 
This printed page is made up of nothing but the 
dreamer's most intangible thinking ; and yet this 
act of thinking is now able to furnish that quality 
of vibration which means the objective effect and 
which in waking hours can only be furnished by 



DREAMS 181 

material objects themselves. Incidentally, this 
helps to demonstrate that the act of thinking is in 
the nature of a force, since it can create ether vibra- 
tions of this degree of intensity — if intensity be the 
word. Also, this objective effect in sleep, lends 
further color to the idea of intenser vibrations being 
the cause of the change from the subconscious. 

The search for the missing quality in the day 
memories, which gives the objective effect in dreams, 
should have a scientific interest, as it would have a 
practical value if found. Science defines the charac- 
teristics of the ether undulations, as swiftness, 
length and intensity of vibration ; but science is 
dealing with the subject when material objects are 
creating the vibrations. This search is for that 
peculiar characteristic, which can make it appear as 
if a material object were present when it is not. 
This is undoubtedly due to some further capacity in 
the Soul. 

The practical value in this search may be demon- 
strated more convincingly in the past or future of 
the Soul. It should be considered practical, however, 
simply because it is a capacity of the Soul, coming 
only under certain conditions, which ought to be 
studied. It is probably a condition of intense con- 
centration that would be without price, if it could 
be attained in the day. 

PRESENCE OF LIGHT IN DREAMS 

Something of the character of this missing vibra- 
tion, (which comes however in the sleeping actions 
)f the sensory nerves), can be gained in a dream of 



182 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

light. There is almost always light in a dream, 
though the eyes are shut, and the room is in perfect 
darkness. But under some circumstances, there 
will be a most brilliant effect of daylight, or moon- 
light that would mean marvelous powers of concen- 
tration, if the effect could be produced in waking 
hours, without a material cause. This continuous 
and brilliant effect when the sun or moon is actu- 
ally present, is due to the nerves' ability to respond 
continuously to a certain length and swiftness of 
wave motion ; but the continuousness is also due to 
the fact that the influence itself, (that is this wave 
motion) continues, steadily and exactly. This is 
because the sun or moon is the dynamo which cre- 
ated the nerve vibration. 

But the light in sleep is due to the action of the 
Soul. This most unstable of all entities, is now the 
agent ; and for a limited period this Psyche is able 
to imitate not only the effects of this mighty sun, 
but imitate its steadiness and continuousness. 1 It 
may be that if this quality of continuousness were 
added to the other effects created by the thinking, 
this objective effect might be attained in waking 
hours, without the presence of material objects. 
The capacity would be invaluable to the artist 

1 This light in dreams proves that the sensation of seeing, due 
to the impression in the brain, is not (necessarily) caused by a 
similar impression in space. No material impulse is present in 
the dream, but the optic nerve is vibrating ; there is light then in 
the midst of profound darkness. But again, the sun may be shining 
brilliantly before the blind person, and because the nerves cannot 
be reached, or cannot vibrate, there will be darkness in the pres- 
ence of the most brilliant light. 



DKEAMING 183 

when he wants to carry in mind and place on can- 
vas some detail, without waiting for the presence 
of the model. It is really only an intenser form of 
the capacity to draw from memory, which some 
have in a great degree. 

I fancy, however, that there is some subtle quality 
in vibrations, still waiting for discovery ; and it has 
to do with the further meaning of seeing and hear- 
ing. Meantime, it is plain that in sleep, the Ego 
possesses a capacity for concentration that would 
be invaluable when one is obliged to do severe 
mental work in the midst of confusion. As most 
people at present, are not able to build a tower, 
climb by a rope to the top story and pull the rope 
in after them, when such work has to be done, this 
secret of the Ego's is a priceless one. 

There is a sufficient reason why the Ego should 
possess some added power in sleep : there is then 
so much less demand upon the attention. At night 
the stream of impressions coming constantly through 
the sensory nerves, is shut off, especially that all 
pervading one of light undulations. All muscular 
action is also shut off, excepting the most accus- 
tomed of all, the control of the organs. This leaves 
the Soul with a surplus vitality that ought to enable 
it to accomplish something unusual. The freedom 
enables the Ego to look around and experiment 
with its capacity to work without the assistance of 
a physical body. Since a future life will have to 
be lived without this assistance, the Ego might 
really have some curiosity upon the subject, in 
quieter hours. 



184 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

These conditions of the night could be exactly 
repeated — with one exception — and still not give 
the result of seeing one's memories, etc., objectively 
while awake. Perfect darkness, quietness, and rest 
could be obtained. One obstacle alone could not be 
conquered ; the stream of undisciplined impressions 
from one's own thinking, could not, as a rule, be 
controlled. Most valuable strength is being always 
wasted by this uncontrolled mental action. This 
waste could really be measured then, by this ina- 
bility of the Soul to get in waking hours the objec- 
tive effects of seeing and hearing, which come so 
easily in dreams. Dreams reveal then the Soul's 
inability to perform in the day, feats that are pos- 
sible in sleep. 

HALLUCINATIONS FEOM EXPECTATION 

There are times, however, when this objective 
effect is attained in the waking hours also. A hal- 
lucination which is due to expectation, is an in- 
stance ; but in studying these, no cause but that of 
expectancy will be considered. Nothing is to be 
gained by attempting to prove that this effect is 
due to the mind of another person. 

This expectation is of course a state of the Ego 
and seems able to overcome all obstacles to attain- 
ing the objective effect when awake and when no 
material object is present to assist. This may be 
either because the intensity of expectation shuts 
out all other impressions for the moment, as the 
sun shuts out the stars, or so increases the vitality 
that the Ego is able to receive this added impres- 



DKEAMING 185 

sion at once, without confusion. In either case, it 
means that for the moment the nerves are capable 
of a better class of action, and that intense self- 
control is being unconsciously exercised. Again, 
the artist would find this power invaluable, when 
he wanted to reproduce some exquisite but most 
ephemeral effect, never to be found in the conven- 
tional, or to be attained by a model. 

This power to shut out or control in the day, all 
the vagrant mental impulses wrestling to gain at- 
tention, needs cultivation. It is a supreme feat, 
and worthy of the same attention as that given to 
a supreme physical feat. Even if the hallucination 
were due to illness that does not lessen the value 
of the strength the Ego is demonstrating. Indeed, 
people are not always discriminating in their views 
of illness and good health. There is a species of 
so-called " good health " which means that the body 
is crowding the Soul away from all its opportuni- 
ties. 

These third powers can be used then to excite 
the imagination, as to what further advances the 
Soul might be able to make if a more practical view 
were taken of the powers already possessed. They 
might be used also as a standard of what we have 
a right to expect of the Soul if properly cultivated. 
No better object lesson of concentration could be 
given, than that shown in dreaming. 



CHAPTER XIX . 

MEMORY — ITS TWO USES 

The memory consists of two capacities. One, 
that of retaining facts for an indefinite length of 
time, the other the ability to get hold of these when 
wanted. The first without the second often makes 
of life a disappointment. The second, even alone, 
means brilliancy — when the subject under discussion 
is one the brilliant person has lately been over. 
The two together make the ideal memory ; but to- 
day neither is being highly cultivated and both are 
often being destroyed. 

When it becomes necessary to discover exactly 
what the memory means, what it is and what its re- 
lation to the Soul, it is one of the most baffling of 
the powers. What follows is a fragmentary and 
unsatisfactory contribution to the general search. 

In dealing with this capacity there cannot be too 
much care in the choice of the words to express its 
meaning. As long as it is attributed to the brain, 
the terms must be too material and therefore mis- 
leading. It is the Soul that remembers and the 
memory is an act or condition of this Soul. To 
speak then of " a name engraved upon the heart," 
of " tablets," " paths," " tracts," " deepening impres- 
sions " will make it that much more difficult to dis- 
cover the real meaning. 

186 



MEMORY— ITS TWO USES 187 

The implication that the memory is a packing 
box in which is to be stored a mass of facts, desir- 
able and otherwise, has done the most harm of all. 
This idea has resulted in loading up this packing 
box so heavily with tools that there is no strength 
left for using them when needed. As a rule these 
facts have no use, excepting to cultivate the act of 
thinking : but in the laborious act of memorizing 
them, all opportunity and inclination to think is lost 
sight of. 

CONDITIONS NOT EXPLAINED BY MATERIAL 

SYNONYMS 

None of these expressions will give an idea of 
what memory seems really to stand for, if its vari- 
ous functions are studied closely. The idea of a 
receptacle, for instance, will not account for the in- 
ability to get hold of a fact the moment it is wanted 
instead of when too late. None of the terms will 
account for that peculiar expression " hooks and 
eyes of memory " the system by which one detail 
recalls another. The fact also that a word or sub- 
ject must be recalled a certain number of times, be- 
fore one is assured that it is safely secured, and may 
even then escape from the receptacle, if left too 
long unused, is not accounted for. 

We are also in especial need of a term that will 
explain why the memory fails with age, not only 
with the material it has accumulated, but in its 
power to act in the present. Until we understand 
exactly what the Soul is doing when it remembers, 
as the physician understands the physical acts, there 



188 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

may be a constant interference with its intended 
development. It is necessary then to seek the 
answer to three questions. 

AN ATTEMPT TO DEFINE MEMOEY 

What is a memory ? 

What is the memory ? 

What is the act of remembering ? 

A weary search has resulted in the conviction 
that a memory is the repetition of an act which the 
Soul has already gone through with. That is, when 
a fact, a scene, a thought is remembered, the Soul is 
in exactly the same condition as when the impres- 
sion was first received with the one exception that 
the cause of the impression is absent, as in dream- 
ing. 

In the case of sights and sounds that are being 
remembered, the first condition was that of a re- 
sponse to a vibration. In these cases then, if not 
in all, a memory is a repetition of such vibrations 
but without the presence of the material entities 
which created them. This is the significant and 
important fact about memory as also about dream- 
ing. 

MATCHING COLOES FEOM MEMOEY 

Consider what is being done, when one wants to 
remember a shade of color in order to match it 
without a sample. Some can do this with perfect 
accuracy ; but it is never a matter of chance. The 
action which the Soul goes through with in match- 
ing this color, is subject to a law as exact as the one 



MEMORY— ITS TWO USES 189 

which governs the first seeing of the color. "When 
one is first looking at the color itself, the act is a 
response to trillions of undulations a second. When 
one is trying then to recall the exact shade in order 
to match it from the pile before him — from mem- 
ory — he is trying, all unconsciously to repeat that 
exact degree of vibration in the optic nerve without 
the original assistance of the color itself. When he 
succeeds in this, the color is seen — subconsciously — 
just as in " hearing one's self think," a memory of 
words is repeated — and the color in the pile is rec- 
ognized by comparing with this subconscious shade. 

In sleep, with little to interfere with these vibra- 
tions, they could easily get the attention of the con- 
sciousness as a candle lighted in the dark is plainly 
visible. In the act of really matching the color 
from memory, these faint subconscious vibrations 
still existed in the shape of this memory which the 
will was arousing. But as the candle flame be- 
comes almost lost in the glare of day, so this faint 
effect is eclipsed by all the other impressions, from 
without, and can no longer produce the objective 
effect. Its existence, however, in the subconscious- 
ness was very real, and by it the required color was 
tested. Soul nerves, or what ? 

It is acts such as these which should relieve the 
subconsciousness from the charge of ignorance. In- 
stead, it really seems to be performing much of the 
exact work that is accomplished by the Ego. In 
this way the color is matched and the conscious self 
is utterly ignorant of the wonderful feat the optic 
nerve has been performing. Often this conscious- 



190 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

ness is equally ignorant of the equally wonderful 
acts going on in its body, under the automatic con- 
trol of the subconsciousness. 

Easily as this act of matching colors has been 
performed, it is a most intricate one. It may have 
taken a century of evolution in the nervous system, 
to gain facility of this kind. 

Had one dreamed of attempting to match a color, 
all the materials would have been vividly in evi- 
dence, and also the color to be matched. This 
would really have been even a greater feat in the 
dream, then ; but there would have been no con- 
sciousness of effort. The fact that in the dream, 
the color to be matched would have been also 
present, proves that there was a vibration in the 
optic nerve, corresponding to the rate and length of 
the undulations when one was actually looking at 
the color in waking hours. The faint, subconscious 
vibration, seemed in the nature of a standard by 
which, unconsciously, each shade was matched as it 
was taken up, and the right one finally decided 
upon. How ? Only the word vibration seems to 
give a logical answer. In addition to this faint 
motion that is going on from memory, each color 
picked up arouses another rate. The color 
vibration and the memory one must correspond ex- 
actly to get the right shade. 

If now these effects were taking place in the 
Soul, it would seem that it is conscious of the two 
rates of motion, able to compare them, and to rec- 
ognize when they accorded exactly, though uncon- 
scious of the act. In tuning one instrument by 



MEMORY— ITS TWO USES 191 

another, it is vibrations which must correspond 
exactly. However fanciful this offered solution 
may seem, there is this to be said for it. The con- 
ception it gives of an ethereal act, and of the mys- 
teriousness of every effect in the Soul, cannot over- 
state such conditions as really exist. 

Again, watch the Soul when attempting to recall 
something which has been read. In reading, the 
optic nerve was responding to the lines ; if the page 
could be looked at again, this act of the optic nerve 
would be repeated ; but now the Soul is trying to 
repeat it without the aid of the book and by will 
power. Often the attempt is attended with a per- 
ceptible stir. Of course, one may assert that this 
sense of motion is in the brain only. But also one 
may assert that it is in the Soul. At present, either 
side is safe from detection if wrong. 

DEFINITIONS 

A memory then, would mean an impression (as 
light and color are impressions) due to an act of vi- 
bration, but without the presence of the original 
object to cause it. A repeated vibration, that is. 

The memory is the Soul's capacity to make this 
impression unaided, and is due to a degree of vi- 
tality. 

Remembering is the act of repeating the impres- 
sion by the aid of the will, when the vitality is not 
sufficient. The child whose mind has not been 
abused, is not conscious of any act, in remembering, 
because of this vitality. Now when science has de- 
cided what is the nature of the act the Soul is 



192 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

going through when it first receives an impression 
from an object, whether material or ethereal, we 
shall know exactly what a memory is. Meantime, 
to call it a repeated vibration with the original 
agent absent, cannot fail to have a good effect in 
arresting reckless use of the memory. 

In saying that a memory is a repeated impression 
of some previous sight or sound, one element of the 
first impression is missing. That is, if the memory 
be a correct one, the repeated vibration is exact in 
every particular but one. This missing element is 
the one that caused the objective or real effect in 
the original impression. This objective effect was 
explained in the chapter on Dreams. The real 
friend, when present, would stand out in space. 
The memory, though most vivid, could not be mis- 
taken for the friend. Since Hallucinations prove 
that this real effect is at times possible when one 
is awake, its absence in the memory probably 
means the absence of a sufficient degree of concen- 
tration. Concentration is a most desirable ca- 
pacity, and cannot well be carried too far. 
The " fixed Idea " is not concentration, but weak- 
ness. 

It is worth while to consider then, as was done in 
dreams, whether this objective effect in waking 
memories may not be meant to be a normal condi- 
tion, due simply to the continuousness of the 
vibrations. Any suggestion that will arouse 
anxiety over the imperfect memories which are 
the rule to-day, even with the young, is its own 
excuse. 



MEMORY— ITS TWO USES 193 

THE OBJECTIVE EFFECT 

An illustration in this connection can be given 
that is probably very familiar to those who have 
the opportunity to investigate phenomena along 
this line. A statement concerning a mathematical 
prodigy was made some time ago in a philosophical 
journal (the name of which I have forgotten). The 
boy was carrying in his memory, presumably, long 
lists of figures, as he performed an example in mul- 
tiplication. When asked how he could remember 
so many figures, he replied that he saw them all the 
time after multiplying, as if they were on a black- 
board, before him. If so this would mean simply 
that his first thought of the figures was intense 
enough to have the same effect of continuing the 
vibrations, that the sun does after we have looked at 
it intently for a moment. 

In the impression of the sun, this effect is un- 
doubtedly due to the continuance of the nerve vi- 
bration, which was set up while looking. The sun 
is the intensest of all agents, and it is having its 
effect upon sensory nerves which have inherited 
ages of exercise in vibrating. The figures in the 
multiplication result from an act of the Soul only, 
which, as stated, is not an intense agent usually. 
Also we cannot say whether its action in memory is 
expended upon the physical nerves or not. And 
yet, if any one dreamed of performing an example 
in multiplication, he would see the figures before 
him, as the boy claimed to while awake. It may 
be that mankind is too ready to raise the cry of 
" abnormal." The evolution of the nervous system 



194 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

is not necessarily finished. Meantime, to suggest 
that objective memories may become a step in de- 
velopment, reveals the dangers in making a pack- 
horse of memory, if nothing else is accomplished. 
To load the memory with a mass of unrelated, un- 
digested details acquired in hurry and confusion, is 
to do the Soul incalculable harm. 

DANGERS FROM MAKING A PACKHORSE OF MEMORY 

A nerve vibration is a most delicate affair to in- 
terfere with. < After it is set up, in order to repeat 
itself with precision and intensity, exercise of the 
most careful kind must be given. The vibration 
cannot be attained without this exercise, any more 
than an intricate dance step could be gained, 
though some persons have far more capacity than 
others, in this direction. But it is the ones who 
have the least capacity, who require the greatest 
care. If institutions of learning are only able to 
pass the ones who need their help the least, it is time 
the fact was being announced. 

Any one can see that in attempting to gain pro- 
ficiency in any intricate muscular act, it is most ob- 
jectionable to have gained a number of half learned, 
awkwardly performed feats, instead of a few full of 
grace and strength. The illustration applies per- 
fectly in memorizing, and reveals also the advan- 
tage of considering the subconscious state as one of 
lessened vibrations. 

I have tried to show the overcrowded condition 
of the subconscious state, and its undisciplined na- 
ture in consequence : and yet, the use of the judg- 



MEMORY— ITS TWO USES 195 

ment, reasoning powers and ability to appreciate, 
must depend somewhat upon getting this subcon- 
sciousness under control. But how is this possible 
when its confusion is added to daily by arousing a 
number of new vibrations ; especially when not one 
of these has been trained into the precision and 
self-control that would be most necessary to keep 
it from constant interference with any careful pro- 
cess that may be carried on at the moment. 

This means lack of self-control, of any ability for 
sustained interest, and of any opportunity to use 
the reasoning powers ; these defects added to a 
deplorable nervousness, must become more and 
more the result of this pernicious system. Natu- 
rally a condition of discouragement would follow 
that would constantly lessen the vitality of the Soul. 

Also, there must be a constant interference with 
a further development into many classes of finer 
strength and perceptions, dependent on this vitality, 
and which are suggested as possible, through a 
close study of the Ego. Many of the third powers 
besides consciousness, seem to indicate that a greater 
degree of vitality is not only possible to the Soul, 
but desirable. For instance, many minds have to 
study laboriously over subjects which others seem 
to know intuitively. Instead of the reasons usu- 
ally advanced for this, it may be due to nothing but 
lack of vitality and necessary training in the Soul. 
It might even be that memory itself would be im- 
proved if the attention were centred upon increas- 
ing the Soul's vitality, instead of upon memory ex- 
ercises. 



CHAPTER XX 

THE MEMOKY— VITALITY 

If one recalls the repeated assertions of people 
who have just escaped from being drowned, it will 
seem reasonable that the memory depends upon the 
degree of vitality in the Soul. Of course these per- 
sons did not " remember everything " ; but without 
doubt, there was a wonderful awakening in the sub- 
consciousness from the shock and horror of the ex- 
perience. This would bring about the intensest 
degree of vitality of which the Soul was capable at 
that moment ; this vitality would be communicated 
to every part of the Soul and would increase the in- 
tensity of the memory. If now the remote facts of 
one's life existed in the subconsciousness in the 
form of a lessened rate of vibration, but capable of 
being intensified we should have a perfect expla- 
nation of this recovery of these memories of the 
past. 

This lessened rate would be one that rendered 
this part of the subconscious invisible, not evident, 
as the current in the overhead wires is not evident, 
though carrying the cars steadily. Some sudden 
change in the current however, brings out a bril- 
liant flash because of the change ; and in the same 
way the increased intensity of horror when strug- 
gling for life, causes every part of the subconscious, 

196 



THE MEMORY— VITALITY 197 

already sufficiently alive, to flash into consciousness. 
This vitality, aroused at such crucial moments, is 
not the ordinary state, of course ; but an effort of 
the will in trying to recall, creates a similar condi- 
tion, though in a far less degree. When this effort 
of the will to recall is being made, the vitality will 
be communicated ; and if the fact one is seeking has 
already a sufficiently high rate of intensity, this ad- 
dition will bring it into notice. If not, it will leave 
it in that provoking state described as being on the 
tip of one's tongue. 

When the memories, aroused through will power, 
are of such impressions as first reached the Soul 
through the auditory nerve, they can demonstrate 
their presence through the phenomenon of " hearing 
one's self think." It is unfortunate that the other 
nerves have not the same power of making the 
memories as vivid. In this phenomenon, the 
memory is so vivid, that one can criticise such de- 
fects as a wrong inflection in the remembered sen- 
tence or the trueness of tone and time in a 
musical selection ; while in a memory of a sight or 
color or form through the optic nerve, many little 
inaccuracies would remain unnoticed. 

FURTHER CORROBORATION 

This association of vitality with memory lends 
weight to the assertion that memory may be a 
lessened rate of vibration. The fact that something 
to be remembered must be repeated a number of 
times, is also explained through the word vibration, 
motion. It is the characteristic of objects placed in 



198 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

receptacles, to stay placed. It is the characteristic 
of a motion to be dissipated, if not closely looked 
after. An intricate muscular action, must also be 
constantly repeated, in order to accomplish it when 
necessary. This repetition of the act is always an 
act of remembering, and increases the facility. 

The hook and eye system of remembering is also 
perfectly explained by this theory of a communicated 
motion. Every one has certain accustomed trains of 
thought, which come without effort. Make a close 
connection between one of these trains and something 
to be remembered. If now this last is in the shape 
of a faint motion, its intensity would naturally be 
increased by the aid of the thought or fact with 
which it had been associated. This is especially 
true, if the connection is a logical instead of a purely 
fictitious one. I think there is no word but vibra- 
tion that will explain these many characteristics of 
the memory. 

Study, and the circumstances of life are con- 
stantly establishing such relations between all the 
elements of the subconsciousness. The greater the 
number of these associations, the greater the vitality 
and capacity of the Soul, provided it is in a dis- 
ciplined condition. The effect upon these associated 
memories is illustrated by a picture or scene done 
in fireworks. Of course here, the connections are 
material while in the Soul they are only a communi- 
cated motion without wires, as in Marconi's system 
of telegraphy. The touching of the match to the 
fuse in the fireworks, which brings out the picture, 
would represent the communication of a sudden 



THE MEMORY— VITALITY 199 

interest or fright to the Soul, by which a supreme 
moment is attained. The vitality flashes through all 
the subconscious Soul and its range is revealed. 

Incidentally, this reveals the value of supreme 
moments and the great dearth of them in many 
lives. Even escapes from drowning have their 
value, if one only sees most carefully to the escape. 
These supreme moments lift the Soul to heights of 
vitality perhaps unattainable through legitimate 
means ; and these heights are an absolute necessity 
for the Soul — any Soul. (The more degraded, the 
greater the need.) 

Having responded to the intensity of an unusual 
height in one instance makes it that much easier to 
respond to a lesser influence. All such subtle con- 
ditions are of course invisible to the superficial 
observer ; but twentieth century intelligence should 
have reached one height. It should be able to 
recognize that the person who has not looked, should 
not establish himself as an authority, upon what is 
to be seen. 

A photograph of different Egos in such supreme 
moments, if attainable, would reveal something of 
the efforts of which each one should be capable. 
The more these trains of thought and memory were 
exercised, the more readily they would respond to 
an influence of the will. When we fail to recall a 
fact or word at the moment needed and have it ap- 
pear most provokingly, when too late, it means that 
the connection is there, but not in a sufficient degree 
of intensity to be quickly roused into greater 
activity. The fact that it does come later when one 



200 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

has forgotten all about it, is another demonstration 
of the unnoticed work going on in the subconscious- 
ness. 

The fact that the same thought does not always 
bring up the same train of connections is still one 
more argument for the reasonableness of this mean- 
ing of memory. The vitality which is necessary 
seems really to be portioned out in different direc- 
tions at different times, just as one's interests vary 
with each day. An interest which is rampant to- 
day, may be dormant to-morrow, owing to a different 
set of conditions. The interest most alive at the 
moment will be the first to receive the added rate 
of motion. 

FAILURE OF MEMORY WITH AGE 

This theory would also account for the failure of 
memory with age. This failure is a defect of the 
Soul, due to an unpardonable loss of vitality. It is 
the same loss that stiffens the muscles with age, and 
comes from the same cause, lack of exercise. It re- 
quires the same effort to repeat an unaccustomed 
mental or moral act, that is required for the physical 
one. But the powers of the Soul should increase, 
not diminish, with age. It may be impossible for 
one to attend to the exercise necessary to keep the 
muscles supple, as they can be kept into old age ; 
but the gymnasium for the Ego is always at hand, 
and most available, in any conditions. 

The most deplorable memory then can be bene- 
fited by careful exercise; but this exercise must 
include the idea of increasing the vitality. The 



THE MEMORY— VITALITY 201 

tenacious memory of the child is due to this. 
Vitality is the Ego's health and strength, and the 
child possesses it, simply because it has been ex- 
posed for such a short time to the wrong methods 
of life. Those who are on the spot, should be 
asking if it is not a fact that good memory is found 
oftenest where there is little inherited "culture," 
(which too often means only overloading.) 

" DREAMING TRUE " 

Among the many things to be said upon this 
subject of the memory, the temptation to refer to 
the " Dreaming True " of " Peter Ibbetson " cannot 
be resisted. I have Du Maurier's assurance that he 
believed in this interesting possibility, though I 
could not obtain his theory. 

" Dreaming True " would mean the possession of 
three capacities ; first, one of unusual concentration 
in two beings ; second, the power to will to think 
continuously and in a certain order upon a subject, 
at an exact moment of time ; and third, strength to 
make so vivid an impression that the thought of 
each would be communicated to the other, as in 
telepathy. 

A number of other details would have to be con- 
sidered, but these would form the basis of the act 
and are all attainable under a proper system of edu- 
cation. The part of this act which included the 
ancestral memories would depend upon a most in- 
teresting and important question : could an act 
once engaged in by a Soul be ever entirely obliter- 
ated, so as not to arouse a memory ; and could the 



202 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

memory be handed down as form, features, color of 
eyes and hair, etc., are undoubtedly handed down ? 
These are merely physical memories: could mem- 
ories of Soul acts and conditions also be perpetu- 
ated? 

If memory were a repeated vibration, we should 
have the answer. A motion is a form of force and 
force can never be lost and can be stored. A state 
of vitality, such as the mental effort of Peter Ibbet- 
son and Mary Seraskier in " Dreaming True," would 
arouse the memories into activity. Those who no- 
tice intelligently their states of mind must have 
seen how much clearer everything becomes in an 
intense state — (not a flustered one ; that means weak- 
ness). 

This feat of " Dreaming True " is only offered as 
a standard of such mental strength as may be pos- 
sible to humanity. We have no such standards 
in use in education, and any system which goes on 
its way without the criticism of a standard, must 
miss many opportunities, if it does no worse. 
Doubtless no such degree of concentration as would 
be displayed in " Dreaming True," exists to-day 
(where it could be noticed), in even one person. 
But concentration is strength of the Soul, meaning 
perfect self-control under any circumstances, and is 
capable of unlimited cultivation. When it is culti- 
vated in this double method, more wonderful con- 
ditions than Dreaming True will be possible. 

FAILURE OF MEMORY WITH AGE 

Had man not been so ready to assume that a Soul 



THE MEMORY— VITALITY 203 

which was to live forever was doomed to lose its 
memory in some cases in even less than seventy- 
five years, many most necessary facts about this 
memory would have been hunted out. 

It is not an assured fact that the cause of failing 
memor}^ is due to degeneration of brain cells. On 
the contrary this degeneration may be due to the 
failing memory. Matter did not create the Soul, 
nor the brain cell the memory. The cell was a 
creation of the Soul, with which it could exercise 
the memory. This must be the case, if the Ego has 
lived forever. But even if each Soul is created at 
birth, it is the Souls of parents which collected 
from the elements the material for constructing the 
body. 

We have just as much data for considering the Soul 
as the agent, as for matter ; and the first idea is the 
most reasonable. As the vitality of the Soul dimin- 
ishes with age, it loses the power to use the cells it 
has created and they become disintegrated, all from 
lack of exercise. Matter never grows old, or dies. 
It simply refuses to remain in the combination that 
would make a good brain cell, unless the Soul will 
continue to furnish the vitality necessary to hold it 
from other combinations it is anxious to make. 

But if Soul is to live forever its vitality would 
surely be able to contribute all that was needed for 
memory until death, if this vitality were not being 
interfered with by pernicious methods of one kind 
or another. Again, if Soul is to live forever, it 
must presently learn to remember entirely without 
the aid of brain cells. In such a case, this loss of 



204 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

memory with age, would be direct proof that this 
art had not yet been learned. Though material 
brain cells must undoubtedly be dispensed with at 
death, yet it might be that this art of dispensing 
had first to be gained by their assistance, and again, 
failing memory would prove that this was not being 
done. As this physical body seems to be, up to a 
certain point, an indispensable aid to Soul's devel- 
opment, it is desirable to seek for knowledge of the 
time when this necessity ceases. 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE SENSE OF DIRECTION AND TIME 

This little group of powers is extremely puzzling, 
yet they undeniably reveal the Soul in conditions 
that suggest many facts or theories about its con- 
sistency and capacities. These powers are as im- 
portant as capacities of the Soul, as the ability to 
sense time, tune, rhythm, etc. The practical uses 
of a sense of direction and time, are still understood, 
though civilization is fast lessening their importance. 
But it often appears as if the practical uses of life 
were furnished mainly to make it impossible for the 
Soul to be shut entirely out from its needed exercise. 

This group of capacities was cultivated by a long 
and arduous process in the early days of the race. 
There must be a meaning for them ; and it may be 

misfortune to lose any capacity which the Ego 
has once possessed, even if the practical need has 
ceased. Some quality of strength or appreciative- 
ness may go with the loss. Some height to which 
the Ego was meant to attain may be made impos- 
sible — some grace, some perfect balance, some name- 
less quality of perfection. 

THE NEAR-SIGHTED SOUL 

One result follows without doubt, from all such 
losses. The range of the Soul's vision is lessened, 

205 



206 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

if nothing further happens ; and a near-sighted Soul 
is in danger of becoming bigoted or trivial. Such 
losses of capacities, formerly possessed, may be 
being revealed in many weaknesses at present un- 
accounted for ; among them, many of the defects of 
age. 

There is also the absence of the exercise for the Ego, 
which first cultivated these powers and would have to 
be kept up to retain them. The physical seeing and 
hearing, is certainly affected by this cause. Many 
defects in these two senses, are due more to the per- 
sistent absence of the right exercise, than to other 
causes. But there may also be consequences less 
evident, though sometimes more serious. For in- 
stance, the lack of a keen sense of direction and 
distance is responsible for many failures in music 
where great brilliancy is a necessity. It is this keen 
sense of direction and distance that enables the per- 
former to strike with perfect precision and courage, 
where one cannot snatch a moment to look. With 
some, no amount of practice will bring perfection 
in this one direction of brilliancy of execution. 

Doubtless those who have the greatest success, 
may owe it to the perfectly practiced eye of some 
savage ancestor whose bow or sling or stone axe 
never failed a hair's breadth in its fearful mission. 
Target practice with pistol and bow and arrow is 
excellent for reviving this lost capacity, and is as 
necessary for woman as for man: (but let it be 
target practice, and for the purpose of training 
optic and motor nerves. A woman who goes out 
to-day to kill is doing herself an injustice). 



SENSE OF DIRECTION AND TIME 207 

To prove what this sense of direction is in the 
Soul, is probably impossible at present. It does not 
seem to be always due to any influence from natural 
forces, as the " sense of the North " would be. But 
this fact makes it all the more interesting. It 
seems to indicate that the Soul can look into space, 
and in its invisible depths see something, which tells 
it the way to go. When the sense of direction is 
lost, the Soul sees wrong very often ; which is a 
further reason for asking if this sense at least, is 
not due to an outside force. 

THE EEALITY OF THE INVISIBLE 

In some ways, this sense seems to testify to the 
reality of the invisible. Every one is familiar with 
the experience of getting the points of the compass 
all wrong in going to a new place. While the ex- 
perience is such an unnoticed one to-day, it is a 
strong demonstration of what a real entity the 
Soul seems to be at times. Let one find out what is 
the right direction — which way the north really is, 
and then try to make the Soul realize — as well as 
know — that this is the right direction instead of the 
one it has been considering. It will be found often 
that the wrong direction, though seemingly so 
ethereal a thing, has got a grip like an octopus. 
One will realize also, in attempting to break up 
such a habit, what a stubborn thing the Soul itself 
can be. Sometimes, it will be found impossible to 
think the right direction instantly — though now it 
is well known. 

Again, there will be times when just the reverse 



208 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

will be true. The suddenness with which the mental 
compass will swing round at sight of some familiar 
landmark, will suggest a very material consistency 
in this Ego. Without doubt there is some very 
interesting fact to be discovered here ; but until one 
is in the habit of thinking in this direction, the dis- 
cussion of these powers must seem a much more 
visionary effort than the others call for, though 
well worth carrying into details. The sense of time 
is even more interesting and suggestive. 

CATALEPSY 

Whatever the causes to which this singular phe- 
nomenon is referred, it must be accepted as a re- 
markable instance of the strength the Soul is able 
to exert under certain conditions. The fact that 
the condition is an abnormal one, does not keep it 
from being an illustration of a supreme effort. It 
is necessary to know what Soul can do in abnormal 
as well as in normal conditions. Each is a sign of 
capacity. Consider then for a few moments, that 
this state of catalepsy, may be a case of exaggerated 
will power, gained momentarily, through some un- 
explained means. The Soul is able to produce this 
stiffened condition of the muscles, in a very small 
degree, at will. It is by making the muscles stiff, 
and keeping them so, that they can be used in cases 
of lifting. The effort of the will by which it is 
done is a condition of the Soul in a less intense 
state than that of catalepsy. 

Sandow's feat of retaining his difficult position 
until all preparations are made and the horses 



SENSE OF DIRECTION AND TIME 209 

standing on his chest, shows what will power can 
do towards stiffening the muscles. Here, the effort 
is a conscious one. Whether it is so, in the state 
being considered, is for the physician to say ; but 
this state must have something to tell to discrimina- 
ting eyes as to future development in this line, 
when such a result can be accomplished in a normal 
condition. In such a groping investigation as this, 
one must snatch at any chance that promises a 
suggestion. We can be assured that we are not 
likely to exaggerate the latent possibilities of this 
Ego. 

STRENGTH OF SOUL OR MUSCLE 

Exercise, of course, increases this natural control 
of the muscles, which means that the real increase 
of strength is not necessarily in the muscles only. 
There is far more reason for thinking that it is the 
Ego's strength that is increased. True, a material 
effect is being shown very clearly in the gradual 
hardening which takes place in the muscle. But 
this hardening and enlargement are due to the in- 
crease in the number of cells in a definite space. A 
Soul seems to require a certain amount of material 
with which to perforin its feats. This increase in 
the number of cells is probably due then to the 
extra needs of the greater current the Soul is send- 
ing down ; and means that the muscle is becoming 
a better implement for the stronger agent, whose 
strength concerns us far more than that of muscle. 

The discussion of these details, is not a visionary 
one. Each phenomenon is telling or trying to tell 



210 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

something of the Ego and every hint of its character 
or consistency can be made to lead to still another. 
The slower the process of gaining some practical 
knowledge of this Soul, the greater the necessity 
for beginning the work immediately and keeping 
steadily at it. 

There is a constant, and most barren effort being 
made to forecast the " glory " which is to await 
humanity in another life. It would be both in- 
teresting and profitable to bring this nebulous idea 
down to the practical basis of what the Soul might 
itself be able to attain in a disembodied existence, 
if all its capacities were exercised to their highest 
degree of perfection in every direction. This view 
would surely interest and attract, in a way im- 
possible to the most poetic view of oriental magnifi- 
cence used so often to define the glory of Immor- 
tality. 



CHAPTER XXII 

FOURTH SET OF POWERS 

So far, the powers of the Ego which have been 
considered are those which came to humanity with- 
out any attempt on its part to gain them. The race 
did not learn to see, hear, smell because it knew of 
these senses and longed to possess them. The sec- 
ond set also came of themselves as a result of evo- 
lution, without the race realizing that they were 
developing at first. Many of the third set are 
probably older than the second, and none of them, 
but the memory, attracts any wide-spread attention 
as desirable. 

But with the fourth class of powers, all this is 
changed. 

For ages, man has been persistently claiming for 
himself and trying to cultivate certain capacities, 
which I have grouped for this reason, under the 
name of the Claimed Powers. The names of many 
of these powers are modern, but I believe the ca- 
pacities themselves belong in the evolution of the 
remote past. I have added to this list one more 
modern acquirement of the Ego, because it has to 
do with the Soul in the same way in which most of 
the others are related. It looks very much out of 
place, but belongs here because of this association. 

211 



212 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

claimed powers 
List 

Sensory. , Motor. 

Visions. Miracles. 

Astral Body. Hypnotism. Mind Cures. 

Spiritualism. 
Telepathy. 
Composition in Analytic Fiction. 1 

Among these powers, hypnotism and telepathy 
have at last received scientific recognition. As in 
the other three sets, these powers are all concerned 
with receiving impressions, and willing, and are 
therefore connected also with the idea of nerve 
action. They do not divide so readily, however, as 
several of the set might be classed as well upon one 
side as the other. 

THE MEANING OF SUCH POWERS 

The existence of these powers would mean that 
nerves had developed to some unusual height. It 
would be useless then for those who have had no 
satisfactory experience with this set, (myself among 
the number) to assert that they could not exist. 
This would be as unscientific as to assert that they 
do exist when the only valid proof, (discovered nat- 
ural laws), is still absent. 

Had this investigation been begun with any idea 

1 The highest form of composition is that which discerns Soul 
itself. The first general statements do not always apply to this 
power, however. 



FOURTH SET OF POWERS 213 

of a championship of this set, any conclusions 
reached would have been valueless ; but the reverse 
is the case. The study has value however, because 
it gives an opportunity of presenting the Soul in 
still another light, and because these powers suggest 
a species of development. We must expect a 
further development of some kind in this nervous 
system since the demands made upon these nerves 
to-day are far beyond those of even a generation 
ago. Many are meeting this strain magnificently 
in every direction and there must be some further 
result from this exercise in both will power and 
sensitiveness to environment. 

The demands made upon both sensory and motor 
nerves to-day, are of every conceivable variety. 
Those nerves which are trained, learn each new art 
quickly and must gain some added quality, in con- 
sequence. Those nerves which have been carefully 
protected from exercise or which take it in only 
one or two directions, break down in nervous pros- 
tration at every new demand ; but eventually, this 
will reveal the value of exercise. Many conditions 
which get no recognitions as means, are to-day de- 
veloping the ability to perceive even less material 
surroundings. All nerves which stand the extra 
strain are adding somewhat to this capacity. 

There is also need for this greater sensitiveness, 
both to etheral and to material conditions : and the 
further control of these nerves must be recognized 
by all as necessary. All around us there is a uni- 
verse of unrecognized forces, which are interfering 
constantly with our efforts and which can only be 



i 



214 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

made to cease interfering through the possession of 
further capacities than are possessed to-day. 

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THESE AND THE OTHER 

POWERS 

The difference between this fourth set and the 
other three is quite marked. On the sensory side, 
the Ego is no longer receiving impressions from 
material objects, from the abstract, or only from its 
own Soul. Instead, it is dealing now with material 
conditions — not objects — with the ephemeral facts 
of life, and with the Souls of others. This is why 
the highest form of Literature belongs in this fourth 
set. 

On the motor side of these powers, the Ego is 
not controlling its own Soul, as before, but the 
Souls of others, and the material elements in 
space. 

In some respects such an advance in the capac- 
ities which the human Soul possessed would meet 
real and practical needs which exist to-day. Every 
one realizes, for instance, the growing need to be- 
come more quickly conscious of personal facts and 
conditions in others than is possible to-day, with all 
our new appliances. Even for business needs the 
telegraph and telephone, are becoming insufficient. 
Thought messages, which could reach their destina- 
tion the moment they were sent, would be an allur- 
ing prospect, even to the business man. 

No doubt mechanical contrivances for speed in 
every direction, have still many further opportu- 
nities for progress ; but if there is any chance of the 



FOURTH SET OF POWERS 215 

existence of these fourth powers, the most interest- 
ing thing about them is their suggestion that there 
may come a time when it will be necessary for hu- 
manity to depend upon less material agents, in ex- 
tremities. There will be probably no limit to the 
ingenuity man will continue to display, in con- 
structing mechanical means for carrying out his 
purposes ; but these fourth powers would call for 
something very different from mechanical means. 
The power to accomplish any one of the fourth set, 
would depend upon man's ability to cultivate 
greater efficiency in the capacities possessed by the 
Soul, instead of upon ingenuity in inventing. 

Greater efficiency in the capacities of the Soul, 
must seem desirable to all ; but to gain this effi- 
ciency is a very different affair from taking material 
objects and fashioning them to do man's bidding. 
A telephone, for instance, is a trifle, either to con- 
struct or invent, when compared with cultivating 
the strength or sensitiveness necessary to send or 
receive a telepathic message. When the satisfying 
of human needs begins to depend upon developing 
the powers already possessed by the Soul, progress 
will become much slower, because of the difficulties 
and of the natural inertia of the race. 

REASONS FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT 

One cannot assert that these powers are to con- 
tinue to develop, but there are three arguments to 
be offered for the reasonableness of the possibility. 
In the first place, there is the great existing need 
for this further development, and the fact that when 



216 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

man needs something, so far he has been able to 
discover a way to gain it. 

Second, there are the increasing demands made 
upon the nerves to-day, which would have the exact 
effect of increasing this efficiency, if their develop- 
ment was properly looked after : and lastly, there 
is this persistent determination of humanity to be- 
lieve that it is to develop this further efficiency. 

The combination of these three is, to say the 
least, interesting. Also the direction in which this 
development is to advance is uncertain ; but these 
claimed powers could be used as a test as to whether 
development of any kind were really going on to- 
day. Many incidents in business life even indicate 
an advance, but are not noticed as indications, 
because humanity has no such interest in the de- 
velopment of the Ego as it has in the development 
of the physical body. This interest should exist, 
however, and could be made as fascinating. Un- 
fortunately, the entire subject of the Soul has so 
often been made offensive by the vagaries of big- 
otry, cant and otherworldliness ; but it should be 
the wish of intelligent people to remove this offen- 
sive element. It shuts out the Soul from view 
though it is the greatest of all the works of the 
great Force. 

The miracles are placed first in this study, be- 
cause they give the opportunity to bring out some 
interesting facts in connection with the Soul that 
are probably not considered by many. This object, 
it must be understood, is entirely different from 
any attempt to prove or disprove the possibility of 



FOUKTH SET OF POWEKS 217 

the miracles. As they are among the powers which 
are claimed as possible for the Soul it is most inter- 
esting to see if Soul possesses in a latent form any 
ability which might be cultivated with such results. 
For those who believe in the present efficacy of 
thought power this search is really obligatory. 
While this power undoubtedly exists in very rare 
instances, it is unfortunate to assume that it is 
generally possessed or comes without exact obedi- 
ence to natural law. For any powers that exist 
to-day, there are logical explanations of their causes 
and development. To ignore these and give im- 
pressions that are visionary or supernatural must 
offend all logical minds. 

INTEREST IN THE MARVELOUS 

One most unfortunate effect of insisting upon the 
existence of thought power, with little understand- 
ing of its meaning, is that this increases the mistaken 
instinct of many intelligent people to discourage an 
interest in the marvelous. An ignorant interest is 
of course offensive ; but the intelligent will be able 
to separate this ignorant interest from the subject 
itself. Both extremes must be avoided in studying 
the Soul. 

We are in the midst of marvels every hour of 
existence. This universe is a marvel, each detail 
of which is a constant expression of the character 
of the great Force. These need to be closely studied, 
in order to remove the fearfully narrow conception 
of DivinhVv, which exists to-day. The idea of the 
miracles, and the wildest ambitions of the old nee- 



218 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

romancers and wonder-workers, originated from 
this study of real conditions. These ambitions have 
a certain value if from this point of view alone. 

Instead of discouraging this interest then, it 
should now be tempered with scientific intelligence 
and encouraged. Only in this way, is one able to 
pass an intelligent opinion upon any subject a grade 
above the material. It is not wise to depreciate 
this interest, however crude it may be. It is almost 
the last link left between many human beings and 
a God who represents something more than saving 
Souls from the ignorance and weakness which it is 
their business to conquer. A Divinity must stand 
for many other classes of power than this, and the 
interest in the marvelous is an instinctive recogni- 
tion of this fact. One may not believe in a per- 
sonal God ; but if the near-sighted eyes are lifted 
above the cares of business, housekeeping and more 
trivial interests of life, it is impossible to doubt the 
existence of some ethereal Force that controls. 

One advantage of the necromancer's ambitions 
was that they forced him to make a study of his 
own Soul, to find what means he possessed for at- 
taining those ambitions, for it is to the credit of 
the necromancer that he did not consider material 
means alone. 

Had such studies been perpetuated, there could 
not have occurred the abasement of this Soul which 
exists to-day, among even the followers of Christ. 
The deplorable states of degradation, accepted so 
calmly, could not have been permitted, because 
such continued study of Soul would have made it 



FOUKTII SET OF POWEES 219 

plain that it is the greatest of all marvels and 
capable of being influenced in any right direction, if 
only the right means are used. 

A " plan " could not have devised a more adroit 
means for instituting this study, than that one 
sentence, " If ye have faith as a grain of mustard 
seed — " provided of course man had not so quickly 
settled upon a definition of faith, with no attempt 
to apply this test of moving mountains. 

There is this to be said for the fact that this 
interest in the marvelous is found mainly among 
the uneducated. The human Soul probably enters 
this life with instinctive interests, as well as instinc- 
tive ideas of right and wrong, which sometimes 
survive. 

This interest in the marvelous may be one of 
those implanted instincts, due to some subconscious 
knowledge in the human Soul of a higher meaning 
of life and its environment. The interest then 
should be pruned and cultivated and turned into a 
search for the laws underlying phenomena rather 
than for phenomena themselves. It is the habit of 
searching that is all important since every step 
reveals something more of the relation between Soul 
and the Cause of all things. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

MIEACLES 

It is a difficult undertaking to detach from this 
subject just the details needed for this point of 
view, leaving out all that is extraneous and nothing 
that is indispensable. The attempt might be con- 
sidered an arrogant one, if the sincere purpose of 
seeking further knowledge of the Soul is not kept 
in mind. As stated, this is not an effort to prove 
or disprove the authenticity of miracles, nor a state- 
ment of belief either way. Miracles are used for 
further comparison of the traits and capacities pos- 
sessed by the Soul with those which seem to be 
developing. The use of miracles permits a point of 
view that could not be obtained by any other 
means. 

No intelligent person to-day supposes that a 
miracle means au act performed in opposition to 
any law of the universe. Not from any disposition 
to assert that an Omnipotent Being could not make 
a scientific law one day and set it aside the next ; 
but because one would not want to accuse Omnipo- 
tence of any such triviality or lack of forethought. 

MEANING OP THE TEEM 

A miracle would mean first, an act performed in 
obedience to some law or laws of science which 

220 



MIRACLES 221 

humanity has not yet learned, or learned how to 
use in a certain manner. Among those described 
in the New Testament, two only are available in 
this connection ; and one of these was only prom- 
ised, not performed. 

The first of these was the changing of water into 
wine and would appear to be due to chemical action. 
The second was the promise that under certain con- 
ditions man should be able to move a mountain by 
faith power, and would perhaps require mechanical 
action. Such an act would be the same as the roll- 
ing of the stone away from the sepulchre, by the 
angels ; and this last act would be due to obedience 
to some law of mind over matter. The presence of 
some law must always be agreed to, since we know 
nothing of conditions without this basis. The truth 
can only be discovered by substituting the scien- 
tific for the supernatural view. For this reason 
then, in studying the miracles it will be necessary 
to associate them with chemical and mechanical 
action because again, Ave know of no other. A 
miracle would be sufficiently marvelous if the only 
difference between it and the material action, was 
the fact that the chemical or mechanical effect was 
created without the use of hands to apply the means. 

This point of view is taken because it gives such 
an opportunity to examine the means the Ego may 
possess for " moving mountains " by faith. The 
second meaning of a miracle then would be (if this 
were true) a mechanical or chemical action per- 
formed with the aid of thought power only. This 
would mean that man in performing a miracle would 



222 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

have to exercise this control of material forces, 
through his Soul — " mind over matter " again. 

This is not meant to be given as an explanation 
of the miracles, but as something which can be 
investigated scientifically — which cannot be said of 
the so-called supernatural. 

In such cases as these two miracles then, the Soul 
would be putting out its strength unaided by 
physical agents. (This one fact should long ago 
have aroused a practical interest in the subject of 
soul strength.) I shall call this soul strength 
thought power for the present, though it is an im- 
perfect if not a misleading term ; but it is the most 
available. 

Miracles are not needed to demonstrate the 
supremacy of Divinity. Humanity's interest in them 
should depend upon the promise that the power to 
perform them should be given to the human Soul, 
under certain conditions. It is most interesting to 
remember that ages before this promise, humanity 
persisted in believing that it had the power to per- 
form such miracles. 

It is because either chemical or mechanical force 
would have to be used in moving mountains that 
the two miracles selected are used. Humanity can 
already perform marvels through the use of mechan- 
ical or chemical action ; but in every case the hands 
must be used to get the materials together, or to set 
in motion the machine that is to generate the force. 

In such a miracle as changing water into wine, 
no hands would be used. In such an act also as 
that of an angel rolling a stone away from the sep- 



MIRACLES 223 

ulclire, no physical hands would be used, though 
works of art might so represent the act. If a hu- 
man being then, were trying to perform a miracle, 
the first need would be this strength of the Soul 
which could work without hands, without the use 
of any material means, of the kind that man uses 
to-day. This is a most interesting suggestion and 
one the religionist is in duty bound to consider 
closely, if he obeys the injunction to "change not 
one jot nor one tittle." 

It would seem then, that the entire question of 
these two miracles would rest upon the character 
and use of the force to be exerted ; whether ethereal 
or material, how generated, how applied. Instead 
then of spending centuries of time in deciding 
whether miracles were possible when they are be- 
ing performed constantly in space, all intelligent 
attention should have been spent upon this subject 
of force and the means for applying it, which the 
human Soul may possess. 

A DEFINITION FOR THE WORD FAITH 

This attention would have thrown a wonderful 
light upon the character of the Soul, which every 
one needs to understand. For instance : if one is 
to move mountains by faith, then faith must be a 
species of strength — soul strength. Of what na- 
ture then ; how generated ; how cultivated ? Upon 
this definition of the word faith depend many 
issues to-day. Whether one were or were not a be- 
liever, it would be interesting to see if a meaning 
could be found that would connect it logically with 



224 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

unusually developed powers of the Soul. It would 
be most interesting also, to seek for signs of these 
unusually developed powers. 

Search should also be made for instances of me- 
chanical or chemical action that seemed due to the 
same cause which would have produced the mira- 
cles ; namely, to an ethereal cause, instead of the 
material one that is supposed to be the origin of 
force. 

No mountains would have been moved by this 
line of thought ; but a light would have been 
thrown upon the Soul's resources, that could have 
been gained in no other way. No one doubts the 
existence of a force that works without the aid of 
material means in the shape of physical nerves and 
muscles. That is demonstrated by the planetary 
systems. We look out at night upon the material 
universe and know that the suns and stars are 
whirling with inconceivable rapidity through space, 
each held in their orbits by a grip that has never 
let go in all these aeons of time. Yet no physical 
hands hold them or started them on their journey. 
The inspired people of the old days (that were 
really so new) probably wondered whether this 
motion and this grip were something inherent in 
matter, or were due to some ethereal cause ; such a 
cause for instance as would account for moving 
mountains bv faith. 

Not that the question would have been put in 
this way by the students of those early days : but 
these knew nothing of the difference between ma- 
terial and ethereal that is accepted to-day, and 



MIRACLES 225 

they laid everything to the ethereal causes; as to- 
day humanity is disposed to attribute everything to 
material agencies alone. (What a field for discus- 
sion lies here ! ) 

FORCE INDEPENDENT OF MATERIAL AGENTS 

While the heavenly bodies then demonstrate the 
existence of mechanical force independent of the 
use of physical nerves and muscles, the existence of 
the chemical force is also demonstrated, though not 
so evidently. But all know that the free elements 
in space are going through a constant chemical 
change, a combination and disintegration, such as 
the chemist, in a very small way carries on in his 
laboratorv. 

Beside this constant change going on in space, 
the changing of water into wine would be wonder- 
ful only because thought power would have been 
used in getting the elements together, instead of 
physical hands. The chemist and electrician are 
daily working out wonders which far surpass this 
change of water to wine ; but always they must use 
material means to get the proper elements together. 
There are no material means of this nature used in 
space. All things were done " without hands." 
In the same way, the necessary element to combine 
with the water, would have had to be willed into 
place, instead of taken bodily, as the chemist would 
have to take it, and put into the combination. It 
is customary to use the miracles to demonstrate the 
supremacy of Christ ; as though He were concerned 
with anything but the elevation of mankind. 



226 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

Their real use is to make man search his own Soul 
and the universe in order to understand the mean- 
ing of both. 

There is some most significant fact in this exist- 
ing difference between a physical and an ethereal 
control of the elements. Not only does it explain 
exactly the meaning of a miracle, but this fact, 
when discovered, will probably explain the Ego's 
entire relation to the material world. 

Such an act as willing the coming together of the 
elements, if nian could perform it, would be an act 
of the Soul. If it were intended then that man 
should perform miracles, it would mean that the 
human Soul was intended to develop into some 
higher capacity than any possessed at present, and 
of the nature of highly developed will power or 
strength. 

CAN THE HUMAN SOUL WORK " WITHOUT HANDS " ? 

It seems most natural that Soul should continue 
to develop indefinitely in all its capacities, in 
strength especially. For this reason, there should 
be careful search for signs of such development. 
The question needs to be asked, can the human 
Soul, unaided by muscle, produce chemical or me- 
chanical action ? 

The answer comes immediately — yes ; it is doing 
this in a limited way — very limited — every moment 
of its existence with the physical body. All 
know that many chemical changes are constantly 
going on in this body. These changes which are 
of the same nature as those going on among 



MIRACLES 227 

the free elements in space, are due to the pres- 
ence of the Soul. When the Soul leaves the 
body a very different class of chemical actions be- 
gins, one which means disintegration instead of 
preservation. It is due to the presence of the Soul 
then that a force is generated which keeps up the 
proper balance between these elements and so pre- 
serves the integrity of the body. 

Again, with every muscular movement, a force 
passes down the motor nerves from the Soul, just 
as lightning passes along the conducting wires, and 
the muscle is moved by this force. (It is by this 
means the mountain would have to be moved 3 if the 
force were strong enough.) I am speaking of the 
movement of the muscle itself, not of the material 
object afterwards moved by the muscle. The 
muscle may be in the hand and it will move the ob- 
ject ; but no hand poured the force into the motor 
nerves, that moved the muscles. 

The first moment then when the Soul's will 
power sends force into the motor nerve, is the 
crucial moment when man is doing in a small 
way, what is being done in the revolution of 
the planets and what he would have to do in a 
mighty way, if he moved a mountain by faith. 
The Soul does not reach down ghostly hands and 
make the muscles expand and contract, or take up 
the elements of the body as the chemist does in 
his laboratory, when he makes new combinations. 
The force goes out from Soul as it goes out in space, 
or would go out in a miracle. 

This is not given as a solution of miracles. The 



228 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

subject was only taken up because of the oppor- 
tunity to show the Soul's relation to its own body ; 
also to compare this relation to the relation between 
all force and the material world. 

COMPARISON BETWEEN FORCES EXERTED IN 
SPACE AND IN THE BODY 

The force in space keeps intact the entities of the 
universe and preserves the balance between them 
which makes the universe possible in its present 
form. It does this work perfectly. 

The force generated by the human Soul attends 
to exactly the same work among the elements of its 
own body. It keeps these elements intact, though 
constantly renewed, and preserves the balance be- 
tween them which enables this body also, to remain 
in its present form. Sometimes it does this work 
very poorly, but still it is done. The elements in 
the human body are the same as those existing in 
space, and they seem to bear the same relation to 
the force which the Soul generates, that those bear to 
the force of the universe, whatever may be its nature. 

This body then, is the Ego's universe in which it 
develops its powers, and sometimes seems to be ex- 
perimenting to discover their extent. If then, this 
Soul should come to perform miracles, through 
obedience to some scientific law, it would mean that 
having gained perfect control of the elements 
within its own body — who has ? — it had graduated 
into a higher power to control these same elements 
outside of this body, and in another form ; no more, 
no less. 



MIKACLES 229 

This is as far as I wish to go. As said before, 
the subject was not taken up with any object but 
that of throwing an interesting light upon the powers 
already possessed by the Soul. These powers can 
take a further cultivation, and need it in order to 
manage the affairs of daily life. As stated, such a 
theory would mean that faith was a species of soul 
strength. But this is preferable to either of the 
three alternatives which the religionist must accept. 
First, that something had been promised and not 
given ; or, second, that no one really had the faith 
that means salvation ; third, that a promise had not 
been stated with sufficient clearness ; or was to be 
taken figuratively. 

The value of calling faith a species of strength 
instead of belief would lie in the suggestion that it 
was to be cultivated by exercise, not through prom- 
ises, threats, etc. Would these last measures make 
an athlete of any description? Before continuing 
with the remaining powers it seems best then to 
take a glance at the subject of Force, ethereal and 
material, if only for the thoughts it may arouse. In 
this connection, some illustrations may prove inter- 
esting to begin with. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

There are many who believe in the efficacy of 
praying for rain. If rain could be brought in such 
a way, it would mean either that a special inter- 
ference had been made or that the human Soul had 
been given this power to affect the elements in 
space. The latter theory would be the most 



230 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

reverent one. Of course it would be impossible to 
prove that rain had ever been brought through 
prayer ; but the subject is one for speculation in 
this connection. 

Rain means that the temperature has been low- 
ered through chemical or mechanical means. A 
prayer that could affect the temperature in this 
way, would not consist of the words uttered, but of 
the combined, intense wish of the multitude, acting 
upon the elements. An intense wish, hope, expec- 
tation, often effects the elements within one's body, 
seriously. But the force that was to control the 
elements in space and bring rain would have to be 
a mighty thing, compared with the hope or expec- 
tation of the individual. 

A multitude, starving for water on a burning 
desert, might even fail to evoke sufficient intensity 
in their wishing to effect the elements. It is not 
for any one to assert that this is impossible, how- 
ever. Electricity is generated in the body, science 
declares. It becomes therefore a question of the 
amount. In trying to use prayer as a means for 
such a purpose, the action, whatever it was, would 
have to be continuous. This means concentration. 
"Who has it ? Also, with how many has prayer be- 
come simply a devotional attitude ? Bringing rain 
through prayer, is a mighty effort that would re- 
quire constant exercise, first of all in concentra- 
tion. 

Another instance comes to me that might illus- 
trate the action of thought force, and the way in 
which the Soul might possibly use it. 



MIRACLES 231 

After the Bocef Gras procession in Paris, the 
streets are covered thick in places with the tiny 
rounds of the confetti. If the day happens to be 
windy, a most interesting little maneuvre takes 
place repeatedly among these brilliant little colored 
circles of paper. Suddenly, the wind will catch 
up hundreds of them and send them spinning 
down the pavement on their tiny, thin edges, with 
the regularity and swiftness of a procession of 
miniature bicyclers ; and this may continue for half 
a square, before the impulse ceases and the circles 
drop flat again. 

Now the wind which produces this pretty little 
effect is, as every one knows, the result of a mechan- 
ical or chemical action which leaves a momentary 
vacuum in the atmosphere. The air rushing in, car- 
ries the confetti with it, lifting it, moving it, with 
far more delicacy and precision than would be pos- 
sible to any pair of human hands. 

This shows what force itself can do, once it is 
generated. If the human Soul wanted to accom- 
plish any similar feat by thought power, it is evi- 
dent that the generation of the proper force in the 
proper way, would be all that was required. The 
force itself would accomplish the purpose. If now, 
the Soul could think or will with sufficient intensity 
to generate the required degree of heat, the current 
of air would be created and the confetti rolling 
would come about as naturally as at present ; but 
human thought or soul power would be the agent. 

This is given merely as an illustration of the 
meaning of thought power. But if it could arouse 



239 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

an interest in developing this power, the world 
would run much more smoothly. 

THOUGHT AS A FORCE 

Some one says, " If there were in this exalted 
nervous system force enough developed, capable of 
producing motion at a distance, that force would 
reveal itself on a dial." 

But this does not follow and should not be used 
to bias against the idea of a mechanical use of the 
thinking force. A dial is a very clumsy affair when 
the movement of the hands is compared to the 
moving of the confetti. That tiniest and daintiest 
of effects which the wind was able to produce, re- 
quired a great expenditure of energy to generate 
the force. The cause which created the current of 
wind was probably a mighty one when compared 
with the delicacy of the result. 

Let us cultivate faith in the mechanical effect of 
thought power for the sake of making thinking 
more general. 

To repeat, there is all around us a universe of 
forces which are interfering constantly with hu- 
man efforts. Many of these we have learned to 
understand and control through mechanical means 
showing that we are meant to gain this control, if we 
only seek the way. But there are forces besides 
the mechanical ones, as was demonstrated in the 
second set of powers. These are not to be con- 
trolled by mechanical means. Xo machinery can 
ever be invented to catch a flying opportunity, for 
instance ; and there is no material antidote for the 



MIRACLES 233 

poisonous fumes of wrong thinking, which are con- 
stantly vitiating the Soul's atmosphere. 

These and many similar results are to be produced 
by the strength of thought power alone ; and there 
are many times when to wait for the thought to be 
spoken, is to lose the result. All who believe then 
in a personal God, are obliged to consider the 
chance that human thought is meant to be a 
dynamic power. A personal God does not use ma- 
chinery or speech. All the effects of the Universe 
are due to a power, similar to, if not thought power 
itself. If then " man is made in the image of his 
Maker," the believer's duty is to consider this like- 
lihood that he possesses latent the ability to develop 
greater and greater strength of the Soul, in every 
direction, which is what thought power would 
mean. He must not make the mistake however, of 
assuming that he has this development already, to 
any extent, as many are doing. Even supposing that 
one person possessed the ability to a great degree, 
there are millions of human beings, whose thinking 
is also having some effect. To meet and control 
these effects, is not at present, within the power of 
one individual, or even of many individuals com- 
bined. 

First of all, man must be logical in considering 
all such questions. Thought power is something 
of slow and most difficult growth, and many things 
to-day are interfering with this growth. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

FORCE 1 

The question of exercising any promised power 
to move mountains by faith, is evidently far beyond 
humanity's ability to-day ; still the subject of Soul 
strength — which may be the meaning of faith, 
needs to be kept constantly in mind. The evident 
association between this force which the Ego exer- 
cises in its own body and that in space, is most 
interesting. This association, if followed down to 
the logical deductions, suggests many reasonable 
possibilities about the character and cultivation of 
the Ego's strength. It will suggest also, interesting 
questions as to the origin of the forces generated in 
space and offer some thoughts as to further charac- 
teristics of the great Force, at present not generally 
considered, if considered at all. These character- 
istics and the Ego's strength both need constant 
and intelligent attention. At present, however, the 
needed knowledge is only to be gained by studying 
Soul and the great Force each through the other ; 
because if man is " the Son of God " there must be 

1 1 apologize contritely for entering the domain of scientific laws 
at this point, with the scantiest of equipment in technical terms. 
Needless to state, I am not a scientist. Also, the subject is hard 
to express in material terms, and only the most experienced hand 
could do so without overloading with words. 

234 



FOECE 235 

some resemblance between the character of the 
power exerted by each. 

The object of this somewhat involved method, 
however, is only to gain some further knowledge 
of capacities which Soul seems to be entitled to 
to-day, simply because there is such crying need for 
them. Any reference to characteristics of the 
great Force then will be only for the purpose of 
making the most of this sonship and its relation to 
the fact that Soul certainly seems to be an ethereal 
origin of the chemical and mechanical forces of its 
own body. 1 

AN ETHEREAL ORIGIN OF MATERIAL FORCE 

If this relation of the Soul to its own body and 
to the great Force could be demonstrated scientific- 
ally, it would suggest that the forces in space may 
be also a direct emanation from an ethereal source 
— the Cause of all things, instead of from a material 
one alone. 

If this were true in a practical, not a poetic sense, 
the consequences would be startling. Though we 
cannot dissect these material forces and discover a 
different origin from the one supposed, these con- 
sequences are worth considering. They cannot 
possibly overstate the real condition, which must 
far surpass any human conception. Even the 
crudest discussion of ethereal conditions is a blow 
at materialism which is a serious defect of the Soul. 

What follows, however, is only offered as a most 

1 The subject of divine characteristics is one too immense for this 
limited study. 



230 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

interesting suggestion, without wishing even to 
attempt to prove. Naturally, an ethereal cause for 
material forces must seem incongruous. Man 
creates force to-day by the aid of machinery alone, 
which is certainly not an ethereal cause. He has 
been engaged so long in making this marvelous 
machine^ that the fact is lost sight of that force 
existed first, and without this aid. The generation 
of force without machinery is the natural way ; 
machinery is an imitation. But even the machine is 
simply an agent, set to work by the Soul, which is 
in this sense its first cause, and also an ethereal one. 
In the same way, the suns of the different solar 
systems might be only agents for the generation of 
force, instead of first causes. 

It is all sufficient for the scientists' need, to trace 
the cause in the last instance, back to central suns 
and leave it there. But even the most central sun, 
around which revolve the complicated and involved 
systems, is material, and sooner or later, the material 
dies, in the sense of changing its form. It is easy 
to imagine a perfect adjustment of action and 
reaction, by which the death of one sun creates the 
life of another. The indestructibility of force, 
permits this ; but also, it is very easy to imagine 
conditions more interesting still, and which are 
suggested by the Ego's control of its own body. 

In studying these conditions, many suggestions 
will arise as to the character of soul strength. But 
it must be remembered that this interest in the 
origin of force, is limited here to the relation it 
seems to bear to further capacities which Soul may 



FOECE 237 

be entitled to, and needs, in order to manage even 
the life of to-day. 

To repeat then, Science pronounces the generator 
of force to be a material one. The Soul seems to 
prove that, in its own body, the origin of force is 
an ethereal one, its own self. An ethereal source 
in the one case, suggests an ethereal one in the 
heavens. An ethereal cause for the forces generated 
in space, instead of the material one offered by 
science, would bring a marvelous change in the 
meaning of life. 

" GOD MADE EVERYTHING " DOES NOT TELL ALL 

To the superficial observer, this ethereal cause 
seems to be stated in the assertion that " God made 
everything." It is not, however; first, because 
though accounting for the act of creation, this 
assertion would not account for the way in which 
the force was either generated, or sent to its des- 
tination. Second, because this stereotyped answer 
fails to give to the majority, the slightest conception 
of the mighty characteristics which the word " God " 
should stand for. Often indeed, this answer arrests 
all further interest in these characteristics, excepting 
the one of mercy. As a consequence many another 
need of the Soul, besides that of mercy fails to get 
any attention whatever. But to refer the genera- 
tion of certain ones of the material forces back to 
an ethereal Cause, could be made to broaden 
immensely the present narrow conception of Omnis- 
cience and Omnipotence. In this place, however, 
the subject will be limited to those forces which 



238 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

undoubtedly influence the human Soul ; that is, the 
ether vibrations, and the cause which creates this 
incessant and mysterious action. But this will be 
merely another groping effort to throw light upon 
eternal verities ; a following up of suggestions 
flashed out of the darkness for one brilliant moment, 
and then lost to all but memory. But the close re- 
lation of these ether undulations to the develop- 
ment of the Soul's capacity, and the evident effort 
which the Soul seems making in the third powers 
to imitate the Work of the ether, makes it necessary 
to hunt down the slightest clue which presents itself 
in this connection. 

To suggest that these ether undulations were due 
to a force coming straight from an ethereal Source, 
as " the still small voice " comes, must arouse the 
imagination as to the value of color, sound, light, in 
education and reform. The value of these ether 
vibrations is immense, whatever their origin ; but 
many in control would not recognize or acknowl- 
edge this unless it could be proved that they were 
as truly " spiritual " emanations, as divine truth. 
So many interesting deductions would follow how- 
ever, if this ethereal Cause for ether undulations 
could be proved. 

For the sake of these then, take the point of view 
temporarily. Consider that these undulations which 
bring to the Soul impressions of light, color sound, 
etc., have a final origin beyond the suns of the solar 
systems — the suns themselves playing some second- 
ary part in the scheme. Consider that the force 
which causes the undulations, radiates out from this 



FORCE 239 

centre, as the force rays out from the human Soul. 1 
The importance of such a fact would be beyond 
question. It would mean first of all that these 
ether vibrations of every class which seem to con- 
tribute so much to the Ego's development, are 
messages from the great Force, exactly as the 
" spiritual messages " are claimed to be and are 
therefore all as necessary for this Soul's good, as the 
spiritual ones. This would mean that the influences 
which shut humanity in mines and tenement houses, 
shut out God Himself. 2 

The prevalent idea that ethical or spiritual truths 
constitute all the influences with which the Soul is 
concerned, has no authority whatever, and has kept 
from view many other potent and innocent in- 
fluences, which would have helped to lift humanity. 
Any theory which suggests for the Soul another 
set of influences as potent as these ether undula- 
tions, is its own excuse ; especially when the theory 
need not interfere with any preconceived conception 
of Divinity. Even the mechanical act of radiating 
out from a central source, as is here assumed of the 

1 It is plain that the force which passes down the motor nerves 
is not generated without and poured into these nerves, but passes 
from the Soul into them, very much as electricity passes into the 
wires. Science has, in some instances at least, pronounced this 
force in the motor nerves, to be electricity. 

2 As stated, other and more important deductions would result, 
if this ethereal origin of all foroe could be demonstrated ; but to 
present them in this connection would distract attention from the 
point to be made at present : that is, the evident relation between 
the work which the Soul does in its own body, and that being con- 
stantly performed in space. 



240 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

ether undulations, corresponds with many concep- 
tions of the coming of divine influences. 

DEDUCTIONS , 

Like the rays of the sun, such influences are meant 
for all humanity. Like these rays, when these 
influences do not reach the human Soul, it would 
mean that man had put obstacles in the way, not 
that a divine Being had turned His face away from 
His creatures. This would also give to the act of 
prayer a far more reverent meaning, and one that 
all could accept. It is not reverent to assume that 
a " Heavenly Father " would need to be importuned 
to assist any being that needed help ; but it is most 
natural to assume that prayer was meant to change 
man himself, so that he might be able to receive the 
help being constantly sent out in every direction. 

This would suggest also, the character of the help 
which the Soul has a right to expect from the great 
Force ; that this help is in the nature of influences 
which cultivate the strength by which Soul helps 
itself, instead of in the nature of an intervention 
that wards off consequences. It does not follow 
that man has rightly understood the character of the 
help promised in answer to prayer. This theory 
would at least make it unnecessary to ascribe human 
attributes to Divinity, and the idea is upheld by the 
expression "neither variableness nor shadow of 
turning. " This last accords perfectly with this idea 
of an ethereal origin for material forces which 
influence the human Soul, as the ether undulations 
do. These stream steadily out in all directions and 



FORCE 241 

fail to reach only those from whom they are shut 
out, through incapacity or interference. 

In spite of the many ifs on which the idea is 
based then, it could be used to test the value of all 
influences being exerted upon the Soul. 1 We need 
a theory as startling as this to break up the attitude 
of the majority towards human degradation. Every 
one would acknowledge the seriousness of shutting 
out any divine influence, from any Soul, whether 
it were done as punishment, through insufficient 
wages, or from a too narrow conception of divine 
influences. 

" The groves were God's first temples " suggests 
this idea of an ethereal source for the ether vibra- 
tions, but it is stated poetically. It is a practical 
expression that is needed to-day, if there is to be a 
practical result. This idea of an ethereal origin for 
force makes possible a most interesting and needed 
comparison between the generation of material 
forces and the Soul's inefficiency in controlling 
its own body. Even this comparison between 
the Soul's capacity and that of other agents 
in the universe could be made most interest- 
ing and valuable under any circumstances. The 
force in the heavens is mighty, is steady, is eternal. 
That in the human body and from the Soul, is weak 
and at its best intermittent. Imagine the last per- 
fected in strength and steadiness through discrimi- 

! If this were an effort of the imagination coming from the use of 
the term great Force, it would be valueless as the basis of an argu- 
ment. As the unavoidable and unexpected outcome of many 
lines of searching, it has a certain right to attention. 



242 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

nating exercise in every direction which is possible to 
the Soul, and then used in the many places in life 
where " One faces a duty and says ( I cannot.' " 

THE NEED FOR AN INTEREST IN FORCES 

The time seems to have come, when it is necessary 
to revive the interest in this subject of Nature's 
Forces which the old necromancers and wonder- 
workers had. Until we can look at the subject with 
their eyes, we shall fail to get at the roots of many 
ideas. Not that we are to consider the deductions, 
or even the uses made of their study. That is 
another affair. But the point of view we need to 
get is the following. 

In those days, nothing was known of generating 
force by means of machinery. When these students 
wanted to duplicate the phenomena in space then, 
as the human Soul seems always wanting to, they 
had to seek a finer means than the material: they 
were driven to consider that the means in space was 
ethereal, soul power, thought power. This kept 
their minds in constant contact with the unseen, an 
attitude sadly needed to-day. Humanity has almost 
lost the power to really consider any cause but a 
material one. Saying " God created all things," 
does not mean that the words always express an 
idea of the difference between ethereal and material. 

It is true, those old philosophers were mainly in- 
terested in cultivating a soul force that should be 
able to conquer the material — " Mind over matter ; " 
but this is a natural instinct in so great an entity as 
a Soul. Why should it not want to demonstrate 



FOKCE 243 

that it was the sovereign of matter instead of its 
base slave as is too often the case to-day ? It is not 
strange that those who " studied the finer forces of 
nature " (which must mean the Forces of Soul) should 
be ambitious to imitate the works of Nature which 
they also studied. Such an ambition to-day would 
be quite as logical and dignified as many that 
inspire humanity. 

This instinct of the occult philosophers is the same 
as that which fires the athlete, except that he wants 
to be master of the material in his own body only, 
whereas the others wanted to be masters of the 
material universe. The philosophers were also 
studying ethereal forces; the athlete, in company 
with many others, rarely gets above the idea of the 
material forces. When, then, it is necessary to gain 
something that the material can never satisfy, force 
is not considered at all as a means. 



ILLOGICAL SUBDIVISIONS OF SOUL 

To-day, it is only an advanced few who are 
interested in mental action as a force and perhaps 
even these do not consider it a practical subject. As 
a result, it is the custom to speak of physical 
strength, mental strength, moral strength as though 
each were of a different class. Also for some 
strange reason the Soul's strength has been ac- 
credited to three sources, "mind," "heart," and 
body. As a consequence, Soul itself, has been 
divided up and put into the hands of three institu- 
tions, not one of which is responsible to the other, 



244 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

and sometimes, not interested even, in the work of 
the other. 

In one of these domains, the physical, there 
exists a great ambition to surpass. There, we have 
specialists, who have discovered and experimented 
with the use of the physical body's four hundred 
muscles. But I do not think there is even a hint of 
such specialists in either the mental or moral 
domain. 

There is some talk of mental muscle, and a certain 
amount of ambition and training for it, (though not 
in connection with the muscle) ; but in the cultiva- 
tion of moral strength there is nothing of this kind. 

A specialist is the pace-maker in his own domain, 
and is invaluable. In the physical world, perhaps 
because these exist, wonders have been accomplished. 
In the mental also, there have been some wonders, 
in the way of feats : but they are not usual subjects 
of conversation. In the moral world, there have 
been conditions where the heights were reached in 
self-control ; but they were not even regarded as 
feats. And yet, how is man to pronounce upon the 
Soul's possibilities until every one of these muscles 
has been hunted out and tested ? 

Meantime, a person may be an intense thinker, 
and be very indolent as to body. Or he may be a 
great athlete and very indolent as to so-called 
actions of Soul. Also, a deformed body may hold 
a mighty Soul, and a splendid physique be the home 
of a contemptibly weak one. But all this is because 
the cultivation of the Psyche has not been under- 
stood. This strength of the Soul should be regarded 



FORCE 245 

as a unit and to be exercised upon three different 
objects ; upon the material world and elements, 
upon scientific and economic problems, and on eth- 
ical and artistic truths. 

Doubtless the most of life's failures are due to the 
fact that this triple exercise is rarely given and 
never in a reasonable and thorough manner. The 
athlete is not as a rule, interested in cultivating 
either mental or moral muscle. The religionist is 
often too absorbed in the moral to even recognize 
the other two and the scholar, when a bookworm, 
regards not one of the three. But imagine the 
result of cultivating these three sets of muscles for a 
century. Then, imagine the three keyed up to 
their extremest capacity and combined against some 
one object. The result could not help being a 
stupendous one. 

We are in desperate need of this development 
to-day ; not for the purpose of working miracles, but 
for the growing necessities of daily living. Life is 
a gymnasium, carefully graded to bring out, in 
time, every possibility of soul strength. But 
whether or not humanity has made the most of 
opportunities as the ages pass, with each generation 
the race must graduate into a higher class of 
difficulties. There is no evading this exercise that 
was planned for " giants " because for centuries the 
race chose, to remain children. This harder task 
exists now, in the shape of all the difficulties and 
problems which beset humanity to-day, and are 
causing rivers of blood to flow. The necessary 
exercises have been evaded but if we do not 



i 



246 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

conquer the problems, they will conquer us. 
These problems are very offensive to many, but 
life is not enquiring what we think about them. 
Humanity has made them, humanity must conquer 
them. Unfortunatelv, the ones most anxious not 
to be annoyed by these problems, are often the ones 
who have most to do with creating them. But a 
child never sees its own share in creating a disaster. 



CHAPTER XXV 

THOUGHT FORCE 

As stated before, this name represents the force 
which is generated by the Soul in the performance 
of any act. It is not a term that best describes this 
force. There are divisions and subdivisions and 
discriminations to be made in selecting (or perhaps 
constructing) a term that would meet all require- 
ments. At this stage, it does not seem best to 
attempt to make these distinctions. It will be less 
confusing, to call the strength which the Soul 
exerts in all its acts, thought force, and use the 
terms strength and force interchangeably. 

This strength of the Soul is its means for man- 
aging this life, at least, in every situation in which 
it finds itself. It needs, then, constant exercise. 
Where physical or mental strength is considered, 
provision is made for cultivating it, through exer- 
cise: but far more for the first than for the" second. 

EXERCISE FOR CULTIVATING MORAL STRENGTH 

I think it cannot be denied that there is no gymna- 
sium furnished for cultivating the strength with 
which to resist temptation. Praying for strength, 
is not cultivating it ; if an athlete should try to 
make prayer take the place of his training, every one 
would immediately see the difference. An intense 

247 



248 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

prayer without doubt puts one into the best frame 
of mind for working for the object desired — which 
is doubtless what it is meant to do. Naturally, this 
value is lost if one then sits down and waits for the 
strength to be poured into the Soul. 

Again, in cultivating mental and physical 
strength, the Soul goes out and seeks its gymna- 
sium. In the case of temptation, strength would be 
gained by meeting the danger squarely, and con- 
quering it. There should be cultivated the same 
pride in such feats, as in physical ones. But this 
instinct is being constantly interfered with by the 
habit of praying to be delivered from temptation. 
This is the prayer for the childhood of the race, 
before its strength had been cultivated. A heavenly 
Father, like an earthly one, would surely want the 
race to develop finally to the point where it would 
not have to run away from temptation. But this 
would mean that the race had learned how actually 
to cultivate moral strength, instead of leaving the 
cultivation to the accidents of life, as is done to-day. 

The question that needs to be asked in this con- 
nection then is of this nature. Is the strength 
which controls the Soul in temptation of the same 
nature as that which controls it in mental work and 
in physical exercise ; and is it to be cutivated in a 
similar way ? Does the cultivation of Soul strength 
through mental and physical exercise assist in 
creating moral muscle ? 

These questions are not asked with any expecta- 
tion of answering them. They are for others to 
wrestle with. But when they are answered, the 



THOUGHT FORCE 249 

reformation of depraved humanity, will become an 
exact science, as it should be. It will become so, 
that is, after the human Soul has been studied and 
understood, as it should be. 

Close study reveals a few details about this soul 
strength which are most interesting. First, the 
basis of this thought power, with its triple cultiva- 
tion, would be will power. Physical muscle, though 
in the best of order and connected with the best of 
nerves, could not perform an act unless the Soul 
were strong enough to will it sharply and trained 
enough to will it with some degree of clearness. In 
the case of death it is only the absence of the Soul, 
and not the defect of nerve and muscle, that ends 
all action. 

This absence of the will power is shown in mental 
and moral actions, exactly as in physical ones. But 
how differently is the absence regarded. When 
the muscles will not do their work, for any reason, 
every one realizes that it is a serious matter, and 
that advice must be immediately taken. Also 
careful distinction is made sometimes as to cause — 
whether the trouble lies in muscles and nerves 
themselves, or in the Soul, the will power. 

When it is mental muscle that is at fault, far less 
attention and discrimination are given, as a rule. 
At least, it cannot be said to be the custom to call 
in a mental physician. When the moral muscle 
ceases to act, the most serious of the three states, it 
is calmly decided, that it is entirely the fault of the 
afflicted person, if even more irreverent things are 
not said. 



250 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

There are of course the intelligent few, who are 
studying causes with the utmost discrimination and 
conscientiousness ; who recognize the weak will, its 
causes and certain cures; but in all three situations 
these are lost sight of among the great majority 
that is trying to influence the human Soul without 
any real understanding. The conditions are the 
same, in all three of these cases ; and it is the Soul 
that is at fault — though not necessarily the in- 
dividual Soul that is to blame. Nature cultivated 
the will power of the race in the early days of 
existence, by a most expensive method, as she stored 
up the coal for humanity's use. But it has not 
been such a great while since man's idea of 
developing the Soul was to break the will power — 
a criminal proceeding that it will take the race 
long to recover from. 

WILL POWER THE BASIS ONLY 

But even where the will power is sufficiently 
developed, as is often the case, it is only the founda- 
tion of the Ego's strength. The most determined 
will to live when one is drowning, will not teach a 
man to swim and the same correspondence exists in 
the performance of mental and moral work. No 
amount of will power will create a muscle which 
does not exist, or lift one to a height of capacity far 
above any that it has reached. When this seems to 
be the case, it is because the strength was there 
already in a latent form. (Many live and die, with- 
out ever discovering of what they are capable.) 

To assume that this latent strength is available in 



THOUGHT FORCE 251 

every case is most unreasonable ; but this is a mis . 

take which 1S being constantly made. Every means 

hat can be thonght of is nsed to arouse a w[J ^ 

which does not exist, or to demand of it strength 

which has never been created. And yet what 
would b the effect of threatg; ^ 

tions eulogies in cultivating physical muscle? 
These means will furnish incentives that may call 
into action every ounce of strength one possesses; 
and even that ismuch; but it cannot be said too 
often that they will never create strength if it is not 
already present. 

Both the will power and the ability to use it 
must be cultivated by regularly selected exercises. In 
electing or creating these exercises, one would 
leed to take : every capacity and characteristic of 
■he Soul and study carefully its meaning. This 
>oul is too important an entity for man to b« 
uaking plans along the lines of his own individual 
Iustead, the capacities that Soul already 
jesses must be sought out and exercised; nol 
hose to m an has been thinking ought to belong 
> the Ego. Even amongst the few capacities that 
ave been mentioned in this study, it will be found 
iat many are never exercised by the great majority 
■ * here just as with the physical body-only the 
nallest fraction of the four hundred muscles are in 
»; most naturally then, as in the body, the Soul is 
iable to perform the great variety of duties which 
required of it, even in this life. 
Some further idea of the characteristics to be 
nsidered ,n selecting a gymnasium are brought 



252 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

out by considering the kind of strength an animal 
possesses. There is undoubted will power here, 
cultivated just as man's was, by having to send 
commands down the motor nerves ; but there is no 
exercise of mental or moral muscle to any extent. 

COMPARISON WITH THE ANIMAL SOUL 

An animal never controls its Soul, except where 
it has learned to keep still or hidden or obedient in 
places of danger ; and this control may have become 
so automatic, that it no longer deserves mention. 
Any capacity in this line which the animal does not 
possess will help reveal what man needs to cultivate. 
An animal cannot classify, analyze, weigh evidence, 
argue ; cannot grow indignant over acts of injus- 
tice though it can become angry over an invasion of 
its own — not rights — but possessions. The very 
fact that man has developed out of the stage where 
there was only will power, into so many grades of 
strength, impossible to the animal, should mean that 
this development was to be carefully guarded and 
continued. 

A habit of referring all exercise back to the Soul, 
would perhaps reveal some further necessities in 
exercise. For instance, the habitual states of mind 
the Ego is cultivating do not get the attention that 
would be required in taking exercise for developing 
all classes of strength. And yet, these conditions 
interfere most seriously at times with the use of 
strength, especially the state called nervousness. 
This is a weakness which is deplorable, and yet 
there does not seem to be much effort to educate it 



THOUGHT FORCE 253 

out of the Soul. An illustration of this need to 
consider the states of mind will be found in the 
training of a racer, of any kind. 

Consider the racer's condition at the moment 
when the race seems won, and the next instant 
when some sudden move seems to change the con- 
ditions and defeat looms in the distance. He may 
continue to exert his will power and determination 
to their greatest extent but some subtle quality will 
have gone out of them, which represents the other 
qualities that are beyond will power. This some- 
thing would have enabled him to will with the 
necessary precision and intensity, and at this 
moment, everything depends upon the quality of 
the racer's Soul. His staying power and its 
efficiency will depend now upon the habitual 
character of his mental states, his ambitions partic- 
ularly. 

If his trainer has not understood this fact, he will 
never make a racer who is equal to every emer- 
gency. The condition of the Soul, under different 
circumstances, must be taken into account in exer- 
cising for the best strength. On the physical plane, 
these states may be of more importance than the 
Imuscle even, if it be a highly trained Soul. The 
|physical habits, for instance may be all right, but 

number of unnoticed habits of thought may be 
japping the strength all the time. The exercise to 
>e complete must take these facts into consideration. 

soul's need of practical care 
No matter how ethereal the Soul may be then, it 



254 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

seems to require the same practical care that must 
be given to the body. When we have discovered 
how to give this care, we may find that for every 
difficulty to be met in living, there has been provided 
a class of strength that will conquer it; that the 
only need is to hunt out the many ways in which 
the exercise is to be given that will cultivate the 
strength, instead of leaving it to chance, as is too 
frequently done at present. 

Can it be said now, that this is the kind of care 
that is being given to the race, though such 
strenuous and conscientious efforts are being made 
for its development in countless directions ? Some- 
thing must be wrong with the methods in use, when 
every year there is left behind such a mass of 
wasted Souls, sacrificed to vice, ignorance, weakness 
and disease. All of these are vices, if it is remem- 
bered that they are defects of the Soul ; and whether 
at the top or the bottom of the social scale, they 
should be looked upon as a criticism of the race's 
intelligence. There is furnished a lavish wealth of 
provision for influencing the human Soul. An 
omniscient Being would know a way to reach each 
individual no matter how degraded. A way exists 
then in each case and is to be sought and discovered. 

It is customary to say of the " submerged tenth " 
that these are in this state because they are weak, 
ignorant, vicious. But the burning question is not 
the reason for the existence of the submerged tenth. 
A child can answer that. The question is, why in 
this twentieth century are human Souls, in any grade 
of life, weak, ignorant, vicious ? There will be a ready 



THOUGHT FORCE 



255 



answer from many, " because they choose to be so." 
But the answer that is worthy of the intelligence of 
to-day, will be due to a realization of the fact that 
virtues are exotics, not weeds, are not due to chance, 
and need the most careful cultivation ; and that 
strength, of all kinds, is something that can only be 
gained by judicious and most varied exercise. 



CHAPTER XXYI 

TELEPATHY 

Telepathy means the ability to communicate 
thought by some more subtle means than speaking, 
writing, or any method known at present. It is a 
mode of expression by which thought goes from 
one Soul to another apparently without the aid of 
physical nerves, and is an extension of the capacity 
shown in " Hearing One's Self Think." 

No matter how faintly the Ego hears its own 
thought, it is a form of telepathy. When another 
hears the unexpressed thought, it means an increase 
of intensity. Telepathy now has the sanction of 
Science, and is one of the Ego's capacities which 
should be receiving intelligent exercise. To all who 
believe in a conscious, disembodied state, this subject 
is one of practical importance. In such a state, 
thought must be sent and received, without the aid 
of physical nerves and organs. As we seem already 
to have this capacity in a limited degree, its cultiva- 
tion calls for intelligent attention. Because the 
great majority must be helped out with physical 
organs of speech and with a hearing apparatus in 
order to hear and express thought, need not mean 
that there is no other way. 

In telepathy, the capacity may be possessed on 
both the sensory and motor side by the same 

256 



TELEPATHY 257 

person, though two different characteristics are 
meant. To receive a telepathic message means 
keen sensitiveness to impressions ; to send one 
means great concentration in willing and thinking. 

OBSTACLES WHICH INTERFERE WITH THIS 
CAPACITY 

Many obstacles stand in the way of exercising 
this power ; but they are the " little foxes " which 
eat up opportunity in every other direction, also. 
For instance, great discrimination is required in 
receiving a message, because it comes through the 
eerie voice in " hearing one's self think," and often 
it would be hard to tell whether one's own think- 
ing, or that of another was responsible. But 
liscrimination is a great aid to success in any field 
and in trying to make this distinction between one's 
own thinking and that of another, this virtue would 
be getting exercise. 

A further obstacle in receiving a thought message, 
would be absence of the power so often referred 
:o, of holding the attention steadily fixed upon 
jthereal instead of material objects. No capacity 
s more needed than this ability to control the 
ittention. As stated, the Ego is the most unstable 
>f all entities, unless trained ; and yet this condition 
annot be compatible with " goodness " in the 
ighest meaning of the word. 

There are very few methods in use that will 

rnish the necessary exercise for creating this 
abit of attention. Some which are in use, are not 

cognized as methods, and many approved ones 



258 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

destroy the capacity. An instance of methods not 
recognized is seen when a musician tunes his instru- 
ment, in company with the rest of the orchestra ; 
he is then taking exactly the exercise that would be 
necessary to give this habit of close attention. The 
musician probably thinks nothing of this acquire- 
ment, but it is a very suggestive one. 

We need such opportunities for this cultivation 
that will be wide-spread. This is necessary in order 
to neutralize certain defects in educational methods, 
which are destroying the capacity for concentration 
in the Soul. To-day the entire domain of knowledge 
is thrown open to the student, with often no atten- 
tion to exercise in self-control. Naturally, the 
greater the number of the subjects or ideas to which 
the attention has been attracted, the greater the 
demands being made upon this attention, every 
moment. The capacity to attend to this troop of 
demands, is a great necessity, but if the student has 
not been trained most rigorously, to hold each one 
in check until the last one has been disposed of 
(even to the putting in of a period) chaos will result. 
The cultivation of this control is often sadly 
neglected, even in colleges, and the distractions in 
the various studies are multiplied until concentra- 
tion becomes impossible. 

I think it may be safely asserted, that this habit 
of concentration is not being well looked after ; that 
even in the highest institutions where standards are 
being established, and where the greatest intelligence 
can be commanded in instructors, the attainment 
of knowledge often overshadows the attainment of 



TELEPATHY 259 

Soul strength. What then must be the conditions 
in institutions which can only copy the higher 
ones, in the one particular of selecting an immense 
amount of ground for the student to cover, in a 
given time, no matter what his necessities, or his 
ability for absorbing? 

Eegular drill in the attempt to receive thought 
messages, could become a most practical method for 
giving this training in concentrated attention. It 
would be all the more valuable, because of the 
ethereal nature of the object to be received. 

THE CONTINUOUS CURRENT 

The lack of concentration, which would be the 
greatest obstacle, has been often referred to. 
With the degree of this capacity existing to-day, the 
sending or receiving of a thought message would 
resemble an electric light where the current kept 
failing. A continuous current is as necessary in 
sending a thought message as in electric lighting, 
for a thought is often the result of an instantaneous 
act, and the moment one is finished, the active Soul 
begins another. To realize this, write down some 
thought that flashes into the mind, and see the 
difference in the time taken to write it and to think 
it. This instantaneousness of a thought is one of 
the marvelous facts about the Ego. Small wonder 
that it should grow tired of the clumsy methods of 
speaking and writing and invent a telegraphic 
system that meant more speed. But if the Soul is 
| off upon another subject the instant one thought has 
evolved itself, it is evident there can be no con- 



260 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

tinuous current going out to the one who is trying 
to hear this thought. There would have to be 
several supreme qualifications in the receiving Soul, 
in order to catch and understand one single electric 
flash of thought. The Soul can hear its own 
instantaneous thinking, but if this unspoken flash of 
thought is to reach another, it must usually be made 
continuous by repetition. 

USE OF THE MOTOR NERVES IN EXPRESSION 

Had words been used in communicating a thought, 
instead of only thinking, the Ego might have flown 
off on another line, just as quickly, because in 
speaking there seems to be present a wonderful 
contrivance to furnish the continuous current which 
is absent in the thought message. That is, the Soul 
places the spoken sentence into the care of its 
faithful servants, the motor nerves, which lead to 
the organs of speech. This single impulse of thought, 
when it is to be spoken must be materialized into a 
mass of syllables and words ; but these faithful 
motor nerves take time to create the exact vibra- 
tions that must be communicated to the atmosphere, 
and we hear the spoken sentence though the 
speaker's mind may be already far away, for the 
moment. These motor nerves really seem to have 
stored the force first sent out by the Soul, and 
parceled it out as it was wanted. 

But when the message is not spoken, this first 
impulse must be lost in space, unless the motor 
nerves are still used. In this case, it would be 
necessary to keep repeating the thought ; the most 



TELEPATHY 2G1 

difficult thing to ask of an undisciplined Soul. It 
must be remembered also that, as in praying for 
rain, repeating the words in the mind is not 
necessarily sending out thought force. The thought 
itself would also have to be distinct and clearly 
defined. The inability to make it so, would result 
from the same cause as that which makes the 
halting speaker, and is a defect of the Soul that 
should be carefully removed. The inability to 
think clearly, continuously and intensely, would 
create wavering, blurred messages that could have 
no effect. One does not usually consider a thought 
message as a real thing which can be described by 
such terms as wavering and blurred ; but I hope to 
demonstrate that it is verv real. 

All these defects which have been mentioned, 
can be gradually removed by training, and the 
removal would be of practical benefit. 

MEANS FOR EXERCISE 

The " willing game " which had such vogue a few 
years ago, was a practical effort in this direction. 
It is a pity that it proved to be a fad, because it was 
a perfect gymnasium for cultivating Soul nerves, if 
we possess such adjuncts. Whether there was any 
I success in the efforts or not, the exercise, if con- 
tinued, would cultivate both the power of concen- 
tration, and of sensitiveness to entities which were 
|something ethereal rather than self-evident. 

This game was valuable also, because it revealed 
50 perfectly the various weaknesses of the Ego that 
r ere interfering with sending and receiving the 



262 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

thought messages. In taking this drill, one would 
discover more facts about hidden habits of the 
mental actions than would be revealed in a year's 
study of psychology from a book. 

It is claimed that impressions of intense condi- 
tions can also be received through telepathy. One 
of the most noticeable facts about this Soul is its 
dense ignorance of the existence of the most terrible 
tragedies taking place, just beyond the range of the 
senses. This denseness may not be a subject to be 
ignored, in view of the many hints Soul itself gives 
of the possibility of growing sensitiveness. It is 
customary to assume that it is the " veil of flesh " 
which shuts out from view such effects and also 
the ethereal world. Many believe that when Soul 
is separated by death, it will then be able to see 
everything (that it wants to see). And yet the 
effect upon the Soul of contact with the sensory 
nerves, is so evidently that of improving its clear- 
ness of vision, that it becomes impossible to make 
assertions as to what we can and cannot discern 
without their assistance. 

It does not seem wise to lose sight of the effect of 
the sensory nerves, because of the reason they suggest 
for the Soul's presence in the body. It is very 
unwise to assume that Soul is some perfect ethereal 
entity that cannot be affected by any of the condi-, 
tions surrounding it. It is far more reasonable to 
assume that defects exist and are to be removed. 
There are those who would object to this greater 
sensitiveness, because of the greater discomfort it 
might bring ; and yet, no one would be blind because 



TELEPATHY 263 

there is much to be seen that is objectionable. For 
those who object, however, there is always an 
unfailing recipe for avoiding the sensitiveness. 

Meantime, telepathy suggests that evolution may 
be looking after this kind of development, and that 
instead of opposing, it would be wise for man to be 
considering the dangers which beset this as well as 
every other phase of progress. The danger from 
this increase of sensitiveness, or from greater power 
to impress one's thoughts, would be a very real one, 
though unrecognized by many. It would lie in the 
exposure of each Soul to all the undisciplined, or 
vicious thinking or emotions of others, with all 
their errors and prejudices. 

There can be little doubt, indeed that this condi- 
tion of things is already present. A little less 
absorption in getting pure air for lungs, and more 
attention to the Soul's atmosphere might be 
desirable. The average Soul, if its own health and 
strength are well looked after is able to override 
most physical conditions. The term pure air, may 
not be even perfectly understood, if telepathy should 
e a general capacity. It is assumed that the spoken 
ord is carried by the atmosphere. Something 
ust carry the thought message as well, and it must 
e assumed that atmosphere may assist here also, 
ntil a better theory offers itself. 
The effect upon the atmosphere itself, would be a 
onderf ul one, as will be seen if the act of carrying 
und is recalled. The sensation of sound is in the 
oul, but the cause exists in the atmosphere, in the 
ape of a multitude of vibrations. While between 



264 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

the lips of the speaker and the ear of the listener, 
there is perfect silence, there is present this rush of 
vibrations corresponding to the spoken and perhaps 
the unspoken thought. 

The same effect exists when one sees the flash of 
lightning before hearing the thunder. The thunder 
vibrations are rushing industriously towards all 
listening ears, but in perfect silence until the sensory 
nerves are reached. Does this occur, without 
leaving any effect upon the atmosphere ? It is at 
least an interesting fact that the atmosphere can 
carry on its bosom, words and sentences just as 
a sheet of paper can carry them. At every moment 
of the day then, in a crowded city these atmos- 
pheric undulations, many of which mean thoughts, 
emotions, sentiments, as well as the spoken words, 
are rushing in every direction, and affecting such 
nerves as are supple enough to respond. 

RELATION OF TELEPATHY TO EPIDEMICS 

Without doubt epidemics are carried in this way. 
The fright of those attacked through natural causes, 
is impressed upon this sensitive atmosphere — with 
probably the ether included — and radiates out in 
every direction. Natures easily frightened receive 
the vibration, as one tuning fork receives the vibra- 
tions from another with which it is in tune. Fright 
lowers the tone of the system rapidly, and many 
succumb for this reason alone, not because they 
have come in contact with the poison, or germs. 
Courageous natures are immune from this infec- 
tion of fear. 



TELEPATHY 265 

But these conditions may presently drive the Soul 
to do what it should do without being driven ; that 
is, gain such perfect control over itself, that it can 
both see and shut out all such dangers. This con- 
trol is most necessary for many other reasons, also. 
Any movement then which demands of its followers 
this self-control, deserves great credit to that 
extent. 

It will take a specialist thoroughly conversant 
with both nerves and ether undulations, to decide 
whether or not these unspoken impressions are 
carried by the auditory nerve. If not, then for 
years, the Ego has been wrestling in its own domain 
with that great problem of the age, wireless teleg- 
raphy, as Tesla first wrestled. 

Ambitious, cramped Soul ! But at least you were 
first on the field of effort, if not of success. The 
Soul's problem however would be infinitely greater 
in such an undertaking than the scientist's, and it 
suggests that even in this life, it may be coming neces- 
sary to seek for other than material means to accom- 
plish some ends. When the scientist for instance, 
wishes to make " the conditions right," in sending a 
nessage without wires, the force is ready and 
waiting. He has before him, only the problem of 
getting control of it, or of duplicating it in sufficient 
ntensity, by machinery. But when the Ego finds 
t necessary to send a message without the use of 
erves and organs of speech, the force must be first 
reated, and thought power can never be created by 
achinery. The Soul must create it through its own 
cts,and it is still a most imperfect means for this work. 



266 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

Often also, it is a very unwilling agent for this 
work of creating ; and yet so much depends upon the 
strength and concentration which the Soul possesses, 
in even the most practical affairs* But is it not 
true that even intelligent people are finding it very 
wearisome to think at all or to get out of an accus- 
tomed rut ? 



CHAPTER XXVII 

HYPNOTISM 



This chapter is not an attempt to explain or 
defend tins power. Neither expla nation nor defence 
is needed here for those who get their knowledge 
from such sources as medical reports from a centre 
like Salpetriere or from actual experience. The 
subject is only touched upon as a supreme instance 
of the relation of one Soul to another ; this being 
the condition existing in the fourth set of powers 
Also this is not an attempt to repeat the explana- 
tions given by the scientists. Naturally as the 
phenomenon is here ascribed to the human Soul 
these exp anations of the scientific specialist could 
not be followed undeviatingly, even if known. 

There are three states in hypnotic treatment that 
are of special interest in this connection. 

I. Where the hypnotist gets the obedience of the 
patient to the extent of breaking up a bad habit ; 
chronic illness, among others. 

Where the "clairvoyant state" is produced 
in the hypnotic sleep. 

III. Where the sensation of pain is arrested, 
vithout the use of anesthetics, even in severe 
>perations. 

GETTING CONTROL 

It is the custom with many to think these 
phenomena mean only that the hypnotist has got 



268 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

some eerie control of his subject, and that the 
entire method of cure must be a wrong one for this 
reason. And yet these know, if they stop to think, 
that .the great majority of human beings are already 
slaves to some person, idea, institution, habit ; often 
also, there is no pretence in these cases, that the 
slavery is for any beneficial purpose, yet very little 
criticism of the condition exists. 

Again the liberty of a Soul to do or be what it 
pleases, no matter whether the act be a good or bad 
one, is not a divine right of the race, though there 
are those illogical enough to believe that it is. If 
then it were proved that the hypnotist broke up 
some bad habit, of any kind, even by getting abso- 
lute control of the patient, it must be acknowledged 
that one might as well be under his control as 
under that of the habit. 

There should be a gymnasium set up by means of 
which the weakest will would have some chance of 
being educated into strength ; but until that is 
done, many will have to resort to assistance of 
every kind. When the patient seeks this method 
of cure, it is always because the state or habit is 
one that he cannot control himself. He is then 
asking for this kind of assistance. In the case of a 
habit to be broken up, the condition is, I think, 
something of the following. The patient wishes 
intensely to break up the habit, and if his mind 
were sufficiently concentrated to remain in this 
condition of intense wishing, he would not need 
help. That is, this intense condition of the mind 
would often be strong enough of itself, if continu- 



HYPNOTISM 269 

ous, to annul the other strong inclination of the 
Habit, when it makes its periodic invasions 

The hatred of the habit and the instinct to do 
right, could be made as much a habit, as the habit 
itselt, if the patient only knew how to set about it 
But nine times out of ten, his lack of concentration 
alone, causes the right instinct to lessen more and 
more as the wrong one approaches, just as any 
greater force may destroy a lesser. By simply re- 
calling to mind at regular intervals the hatred of 

vo e ula a t' V* T qUieSC6nt ' the attellti ™ 

would be aroused sufficiently, in many a case, to 

break up its power when it had not become 'too 
strong, often, I believe that all the hypnotist does 
s to arouse this attention and with it the hatred of 
■he habit and keep it fixed; just as prayer does. 
Ji course this is due to his own concentrated ef- 
ort, and is a wonderful feat to accomplish, but it 
s not the same thing as "getting control," in any 
Ajectionable sense. If he were doing more than 
«nsting the patient to keep up his normal condi- 
ion of wishing intensely to break up the habit 
.ere really controlling him that is, he would not 
eed to call his attention at all. 
But he says, when you wake you will not-or 
ou will-and the attention of the patient is made 
lore concentrated and therefore more powerful in 
« revolt, when the temptation begins to creep 
pon him. Of course we should need some won 
erful magnifying glasses to view the act of 
3sista„ee, at the crucial moment, and decide 
'hether it was the hypnotist's will power which 



270 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

conquered, or that of the patient, assisted by the 
agent. I think however, there is quite as much 
reason for the last as for the first theory. This 
method of hypnotic treatment is of course only a 
makeshift due to the absence of any means for cul- 
tivating will power that can be unfailing when car- 
ried out. As stated before, there is no such pro- 
vision made ; and many institutions and permitted 
practices are destroying such will power as Nature 
is creating, wherever she has a chance to get in her 
unfailing work. As a consequence, the weak Soul, 
like the weak body must be supplied with crutches. 
There are many kinds of crutches — those which 
help to gain strength, those which make it impos- 
sible. " Getting control " is of the nature of the 
latter ; but even if this were the method and the 
only method used by the hypnotist, he would be 
simply following the example set by many ap- 
proved institutions. 

COMPARISON WITH "IMPLICIT OBEDIENCE" 

The cultivation of a habit of " implicit obedience " 
is "getting control" of exactly the same kind. 
Obedience in such cases, after the habit is formed, 
is never an exercise of the will power. There are 
cases where the forming of such a habit is most 
necessary ; where strength of character must be 
temporarily sacrificed to the need of keeping out of 
the reach of temptation until one has groAvn beyond 
it. But in such cases it should be recognized that 
one is getting the same control of the subject as is 
claimed for the hypnotist. Will power should be 



HYPNOTISM 271 

exercised by taking time to carefully present both 
sides, the right and wrong act, and by the vividness 
of the presentation, enable the person to select the 
line of action intelligently, and adhere to it, be- 
cause of the strength of his convictions. If such a 
method is begun with the child, there will be no 
forming of the habit of " implicit obedience " which 
too often destroys the will power. 

The method in frequent use of threats, promises, 
eulogies, exhortations, is the same effort as that of 
the hypnotist. It is an effort to create a state of 
mind that shall be strong enough to conquer the 
other state of mind which the temptation would in- 
duce. This method is also a makeshift, even when 
it is most successful. Often in such cases, unfortu- 
nate conditions are induced which are entirely ab- 
sent from the methods of the hypnotist. Wherever 
these threats or promises create a habit of fear or 
cupidity in the Soul, they are far worse than being 
under the control of a reputable hypnotic physician. 

Suggestion does not do this ; it simply concen- 
trates the attention of the patient, and helps all his 
strength to get a chance to exert itself. There are 
of course the abnormally weak natures so in the 
habit of obeying, that a breath is sufficient to gain 
their slavish compliance : but when so many influ- 
ences have been so long at work to cultivate such 
states of mind, it is unfortunate now to attribute it 
all to hypnotism. 

HYPNOTIC SLEEP 

The second instance of the hypnotic sleep where 



272 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

the clairvoyant state is produced, seems to be most 
intimately associated with many stages of the Ego's 
capacities suggested in this study. The conditions 
of this hypnotic sleep are similar to those of ordi- 
nary sleep in one particular. To gain the desired 
effect, all interfering vibrations are and must be 
shut out. The shutting out in this case is by the 
agency of the hypnotist. (In sleep the vibrations 
are shut out by the night.) It would be a difficult 
undertaking for any one to keep these extraneous 
vibrations controlled, and the slightest interference 
might break up the clairvoyant state. This is why, 
if the sleeper became conscious of anything but the 
commands and the presence of the hypnotist, the sleep 
might become broken. I do not know whether the 
hypnotist gives this as the cause for the character- 
istics of the hypnotic sleep, but it is a reasonable 
one. Even when the sleep is produced by mechan- 
ical means, the attention has been so centred upon 
the one bright object, that temporarily, the other 
habits or states of the Soul are broken up. 

This stilling of the vibrations has something of 
the effect of stilling the waves in a stream of water, 
so that the reflections from the bank become visi- 
ble. In ordinary sleep this is what follows; the 
dreams correspond to the reflections. It follows 
also in this clairvoyant stage of the hypnotic sleep. 

It is impossible to deny that this suggests a still 
further degree of clearness to be obtained in ordi- 
nary seeing, when man has had, say a century's 
further training in concentration. If the idea is 
looked at carefully, it is really no more wonderful 



HYPNOTISM 273 

for the Soul to see objectively, such ethereal things 
as memories or the thoughts of another, than it is 
to see material things in this way. 

If the hypnotist has this power to still the va- 
grant, undisciplined action of other minds, it is a 
great pity that he cannot make the power general 
in all minds. A Soul which resembles an open 
door, through which may stream not only its own 
idle thinking, but that of all the minds around is 
much more enslaved than when under the control 
of a hypnotist. 

One important detail of the hypnotist's power, is 
his capacity to whip out all these vagrant intruders 
I his is something which the person himself could 
not do at this stage, with the means at hand But 
under this treatment, his own natural strength 
would have a chance to attain to this ability The 
agent starts the habit of control and every moment 
that the undisciplined thinking is kept in abeyance, 

asrttsS. *""** * ^ " ****** * 

RELATION- TO THE WILL 

It is claimed by many that hypnotism lessens in- 
stead of increases the strength of will This re 
mams to be proved. Of course if one continues to 
use crutches instead of using the strength as fast as 
it is cultivated, strength will not increase. But 
probably many do not stop to think that it is often 
those who are already deficient in will power who 
seek this or any method of cure. Often, it is those 
tvho have first tried every other means who finally 



274 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

resort to thought power — which should be the 
strongest force of all. There are many varieties of 
weakness : an extreme case will serve the purpose 
here. 

There are Souls which have become so possessed 
by this vagrant stream of undisciplined mental 
action, that any real mental or even moral effort of 
their own has become an impossibility. These un- 
disciplined actions are the seventy times seven devils 
which have taken possession. There are many such 
people ; but because they are only inane and incon- 
ceivably incapable, this kind of " possession " gets 
no attention. 

Such come eventually to the physicians' care. If 
it be a hypnotist whose first step is to dis- 
possess these foreign invaders, lo, when the deed is 
done, there is nothing left : the Soul lies like a dank 
pool under a sunless sky : but the hypnotist is not 
to blame. Habits destroyed the strength. This 
condition then would have had to be brought about 
before the individual strength would have had any 
opportunity to begin to grow ; and it would take a 
long, long time to see any signs of this growth, be- 
cause the Soul is now in the condition of an infant, 
but without the divine vitality which the infant has 
brought with it. 

HYPNOTISM TO ALLAY PAIN 

The third state of hypnotic treatment is the most 
wonderful and inexplicable of all. When a condi- 
tion has been brought about that prevents a patient 
from feeling any pain during an operation, through 



HYPNOTISM 275 

thought force alone, a supreme moment in develop- 
ment has been reached. It is true that a drug can 
produce this effect, by a temporary destruction of 
the nerve's sensitiveness ; but this is no more won- 
derful than the destruction of all feeling by killing 
the nerve. It is a question however, whether the 
act of the hypnotist has to do with nerves at all ; 
whether it is not simply a condition of the Soul 
which he brings about. In either case a most won- 
derful feat has been performed which should be 
considered a standard in measuring degrees of 
thought force. But the feat will be the more won- 
derful, if it is the Soul, (instead of the nerves) that 
has been affected. 

There are cases where some sudden change in the 
Soul's condition has allayed pain, for the moment. 
All are familiar with these, though it is usually 
assumed that the pain was going on but that the 
Soul was not conscious of the fact for the moment. 
But if the Ego be the source of the force which con- 
trols the organs, it is just as possible that the 
mtenser condition enabled it to send down a better 
3lass of force, that for the moment really allayed 
;he pain. Like consciousness in a dream, the effect 
ranishes, if watched. But it is watching which 
uggests that it was allayed. 

Pain is of course a necessity. It is the unsleep- 
ng sentinel which guards the conditions which 
eep Soul and body together. It stands ever ready 
) give its warning cry at the least threat of danger 
id it is probably a sensation in the Soul, as light 
We consider it as belonging to matter; and 



276 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

yet the elements in space feel no pain, as far as we 
can judge. Some people also are far less sensitive 
than others, though the elements in all bodies are 
about the same, the Soul making the only difference. 
In ordinary cases, then it would be natural that a 
change in the condition of the Soul should be able 
to produce an improved condition in the body which 
would really lessen the pain, by temporarily re- 
moving the cause. But an operation means a pain 
from a cause without the body. Even if the thought 
power then can, like the drugs, deaden the sensitive- 
ness of the nerves, this is a case of mind over 
matter that should gain intense interest as another 
view of the Ego's relation to the body. 

There is an immense field o£ most practical ques- 
tions to be explored here. It is for the sake of 
arousing interest, rather than with the hope of con- 
tributing anything, that this chapter is written. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

VISIONS AND ASTRAL BODY 

In considering such subjects as clairaudience and 
lairvoyarme it is most necessary to be able to 
fcparate the subjects themselves from any causes 
hich have been advanced to explain these impres- 
ons. A phenomenon should not share the con- 
mpt meted out to a stated cause which has not 
*en searched for scientifically. This argues that 
ie second set of powers is being neglected If 
.ese claimed capacities are looked at dispassionately 
is plain that they might mean no more than an 
tenser form of dreaming, « Hearing One's Self 
Hnk and hallucinations. But after one has 
ffered long from the credulity with which these 
ejects of clairaudience and clairvoyance are often 
ndled, it will be a mental feat to take the dis- 
ssionate attitude, and be interested in the fact 
it any ability possessed is one to be cultivated 
•ther. 

These claimed powers may be studied then, first 
arouse the imagination as to the kind of evolu- 
a. which may be still in store for the Ego if 
ves continue to advance in capacity. In the 
:>nd place, this would keep the attention fixed 
with more intelligence, upon certain pernicious 
■hods of education to-day. Not that one wishes 

277 



21$ A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

to be educated into the power to see or hear visions, 
but that one does not want to be deprived of any 
development in the way of the sensory nerve 
efficiency, through ignorant practices. 

If it could only be recognized that nerves were 
made for the purpose of sensing keenly and carry- 
ing messages from every possible direction and that 
their efficiency is often being interfered with to-day, 
instead of advanced, these claimed phenomena would 
receive more dignified attention. It is impossible 
to assert how far the capacity of these nerves is to 
go ; but surely until they have been able to receive 
impressions from all material entities — which as yet 
they cannot. 

In considering clairaudience, one is obliged to 
admit that there is a perceptible voice heard (?) in 
"hearing one's self think." The possibility that 
one might come to think with sufficient force to 
project this voice beyond one's own consciousness, 
is quite within the domain of scientific interest. 

THEIR RELATION TO CONCENTRATION 

Also, we can see such immaterial entities as our 
own thoughts and memories of people at night ; it 
is not beyond possibility, then, that seeing them 
in the day would be due to greater powers of 
concentration and a better class of nerves which 
would not need a thunderclap to gain their atten- 
tion. As said before, these claimed powers could 
be considered something in the nature of a test as 
to the degree of concentration and of intense thought 
power attained at present. We need some severe 



VISIONS AND ASTRAL BODY 279 

■taubid in tins direction, to arrest tho waste of 

must I I™ WhK \ f g0i " g ° n a11 the time > and 
must be having a deleterious effect upon the E-o 

I robably every one has wakened suddenly from 

tit e Zf I"' * mnain fiX6d for an a PP^le 
time before the eyes. It is even possible to will 

this, and it means that for the moment, the rush of 

waking thoughts which would have dissipated it, 

has been stayed. This would be a most desirable 

C ° f f Str6D f f ' and mi S ht ^oome so cultivated 
through favorable circumstances, that the "seer" 
exerted it without any effort. 
It is a kind of strength, however, which the 
gly educated would find it difficult to cultivate, 
■hough they, and all others need it. The reason 
hese would find it difficult, has been stated Edu Ca 
on arouses a multitude of trains of thought which 
tur a l ly distract attention from less efident in 
luences winch might exist; at the same time, the 
elt-control which ,vn,ii,i i ^ ' 

,r„ 10 .i,t ,• i d kee P these trai ns of 

' ought n abeyance, when necessary, is not care- 
My cultivated by educational method, A person 
>th a more limited range of ideas then, would 
ave more chance to notice even very slight im- 
ressions which might be affecting jL Lso^y 

TLr \ J W ° Uld alS0 have more opportunity 

LSS cultivate any ca P acit y in ai 



It must be remembered that it is only the scien- 
ce spirit, which is being pleaded for in this argu- 
ent. As stated frequently, several of the powers 
the Soul seem to indicate, that the range of the 



280 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

sensory nerves may be meant to include mor- 
capacity than we are conscious of at present. 

The power to see material objects in dreams an< 
hallucinations is really a marvelous though commoi 
one. To add to it the further capacity of seeing 
visions, normally, as they are certainly seen in dreams 
and hallucinations, is a mere trifle, provided on( 
does not insist upon associating these visions with| 
" spirits." 



NO KNOWN LAW ACCOUNTS FOR SPIRITS 

At present, no natural law has been discoverec 
which would entirely account for such an associa^ 
tion, much as it may be desired. Humanity thei 
is entitled to go into this subject very carefully. 
But the mere act of seeing and hearing objectively 
in the day as all can do at night, is a differenl 
affair. This capacity certainly does seem to b( 
possessed by the Soul already, under certain cir- 
cumstances, and should therefore receive intelligent 
attention. What is seen and heard besides one' 
own thoughts, does not form a part of this discus- 
sion and would require closer reasoning and 
closer search for natural laws. 

The laws underlying the phenomena of objectiv^ 
seeing and hearing seem to be already reasonabl] 
evident. The object of this chapter then, is 
seek for signs of some further capacity in the sei 
sory nerves and the Soul ; because something 
further should be expected from the extra exercise 
these nerves are receiving to-day. Those who be- 
lieve in Evolution, must realize that the develop- 



VISIONS AND ASTRAL BODY 2S1 

ment of the nervous system is not necessarily at an 
end. If the nervous system should be capable of 
further capacity, surely the human Soul may be 
supposed able to follow in its lead. 

The association of this objective seeing and hear- 
ing with fortune-telling, has done more than any 
other cause to arrest scientific interest in this sub- 
ject. At present, there is no known reason to be 
advanced to prove that a fact not yet accomplished, 
should be able of itself to make an impression, so as 
to be foretold. If some one knew that the act was 
to be accomplished, then the knowledge might be 
imparted through telepathy ; but at this stage at 
least, interest in prophesying should be discouraged, 
and the interest held rigorously down to a chance of 
further development in the Ego's capacities. 

ASTKAL BODY 

If the Astral Body were what is claimed for it, 
we should have to agree that the Soul could leave 
the body, temporarily, and appear to another per- 
son. I think it is safe to assert that at present 
there is not a hint of the possession of any such 
power, in the Ego. This would not prove that the 
power did not exist, of course ; but it is best to 
have something in the nature of a foundation, in 
evolving any theory. In this case, also, the phe- 
nomenon could be explained so easily, as an intense 
instance of an hallucination, but created by the will 
power of another, instead of by the intense state 
of expectation, in the Soul of the one who saw the 
vision. This person might even be expecting some 



282 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

such effect, in which case the intensity of his own 
state of mind would be added to the will power of 
the agent. Intense concentration would have to be 
present also, in both persons. In such a case, there 
might result, most naturally, a very vivid day 
hallucination, to which might be added a telepathic 
message. This would all come to pass in a natural 
manner, and I think no conditions of the Astral 
Body would be missing. This effect could take 
place in a dream, and nothing be thought of it. 
Also then, the telepathic message would be heard 
in spoken words. Occurring in waking hours, it 
would mean unusual capacity along lines that are 
already possible though in a very small degree. 

One distinction between such a vision, due to the 
will of another, and an Astral Body, would be that 
in the first case, the cause, though present, would 
not be something which the physical nerves could 
discern, but a force. The Astral Body assumes that 
some have now the power to see " spirit," with either 
physical or highly developed " soul nerves." But an 
objective vision is not always, if ever, a Spirit, even if 
caused by one. Dreams are visions, and prove that 
we can see objectively without material objects 
present; but we cannot prove that a dream is 
anything but a memory, due to a force. 

soul's form 

A memory is ethereal, but it is something in the 
nature of a repeated vibration and we suppose 
" Spirit " to be an entirely different entity from a 
repeated vibration. No assertions can be made 



VISIONS AND ASTRAL BODY 283 

about the Soul's form at present (though in this 
study it is assumed that it is a finer body resem- 
bling the physical). This form, however, is entirely 
distinct from the physical one, or from a vision. 
The dream of a friend is very real, and might be 
caused by the will of the friend; but the dream is 
not the friend. 

This should make plain how impossible it is at 
present to prove that Soul has been seen objectively 
no matter how vivid the impression. It should re- 
veal also that a most careful distinction is to be 
made between the ability to see Soul as an Astral 
body, and to see a vivid hallucination, due to in- 
tense mental action. Since Telepathy must surest 
that a disembodied Soul might cause a subjective 
impression of its presence, this distinction should 
be made evident to all. This distinction can be 
presented in one way, by comparing the vision and 
the Astral Body, with the manner in which the 
writer of analytical Fiction sees the Soul. 

THE WAY IN WHICH THE WRITER OF ANALYTICAL 
FICTION DISCERNS 

The analytical writer is discerning the real Soul 
hough he may see it most dimly or imperfectly He 
>oks below the surface, the clothes and human form 
'hich always appear in the vision or Astral Body 
nd which are not the Soul. So looking-with 
hysical nerves ?-he discerns the individual ca- 
nities, sentiments, virtues, weaknesses, hopes 
iars, which mean so much to all who have ad- 
mced beyond the animal. These belong to Soul 



284 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

if they are not Soul itself; and it must be these 
ethereal agents, not clothes and form, which would 
make an impression of the presence of a " Spirit." 
The material factors indeed would no longer be 
present to be making an impression. Also, if these 
ethereal factors are not present to help create the 
impression being received, Soul itself cannot be 
present. This is really one difference between a 
vision and what is meant by an Astral Body. The 
latter means that Soul itself is present, which can- 
not be proved ; the vision means an impression from 
— something. 

It is true that if one had a vision coming from a 
telepathic willing of another Soul, the vision would 
also appear in the form and clothes of material 
life. But this is because each are so inseparably 
associated with person, that it is impossible to have 
an impression of the presence of any one without 
seeing form and clothes also. It cannot be insisted 
upon too often, however, that these are not the Soul 
and that " Spirit " would have nothing to do with 
creating these material impressions. Whatever 
might cause the vision, the form and clothes would 
be an act of the seer's brain, due to suggestions 
from memory. If a spirit were really present, and 
could make the fact known, it might also arouse the 
memory ; but this memory, not Soul, would be the 
cause of the form and clothes. 

The objective effect of these last, would add noth- 
ing however, to the possibility of this presence, be- 
cause this effect is due to physical nerves, and it 
does not seem probable that it is with these that 



VISIONS AND ASTRAL BODY 285 

spirit is to be discerned. For this reason it would 
take unusual discrimination to decide between a 
vision due to one's own mentality and one due to a 
telepathic influence from a spirit, with all its char- 
acteristics. Unfortunately even while the Soul is 
still in the body, it is only the most evident of these 
characteristics that can gain the attention of the 
majority, as they gain that of the analytical writer. 

But if these characteristics cannot catch the at- 
tention with the physical form to help, it is not 
reasonable to think they can when Soul had left 
the body, either temporarily or forever: and this 
would mean that it would be impossible to make 
this necessary distinction between a vision and the 
presence of a spirit. 

To make this distinction between the real person 
— Soul — and the form and clothes, as the writer 
does, is a mental feat whose difficulty is not often 
recognized. It is the result of generations of un- 
noticed training and those who have not had this, 
cannot accomplish the act, though they may easily 
see visions. 1 

The ability to discern a Soul, here or hereafter, 
is not a matter of chance, and if it is to be done 
with " soul nerves " these also may be requiring at- 
tention, as well as the physical ones. As stated in 
the chapter on soul nerves, they certainly, at times, 

1 There are of course many limitations to the writer's way of dis- 
cerning Soul. He does not see objectively, for instance. He does 
not see the individual Soul in the way so longed for by many : 
that is, Spirit is never the agent which causes him to see. But 
what he discerns is the basis of all visions that would be due to the 
presence of Spirit. 



286 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

find the necessity to give attention to ethereal 
entities, one that is very wearying, if not painful. 

This is why the analytical fiction cannot hold its 
own with the story of romance or incident. These 
last require no effort because of the daily exercise 
which life gives. Of romance, even the very com- 
monest Soul has had some share, and can appreciate 
for that reason. As for incident, the child is 
familiar with that, and no training is required to 
appreciate it. But to look steadily at so ethereal 
an entity as a Soul, in other than romantic situ- 
ations, is a different and to some a most difficult 
affair. Yet the Soul as revealed through Litera- 
ture, probably defines the extent to which the real 
entity can be discerned at present. The Astral 
Body or hallucination, is as possible as dreams ; 
but at this moment, it is impossible to prove that 
each is anything more than a telepathic impres- 
sion — if always that. The objective effect is quite 
as likely to be of finite origin, as the clothes with 
which they are invested. 

Such a view would not be so comforting ; but 
the search for the truth is the first consideration. 
Also, such a view would help to arrest credulity 
and to create the discrimination which is so neces- 
sary here. It is useless to attempt to destroy an 
interest in these phenomena, even if it had been 
proved necessary : but it is an imperative duty to 
make this interest scientific and dignified. All we 
know is that hallucinations are possible; but a 
wealth of suggestions waits in this one fact if Soul- 
as well as brain, be considered the cause. The re- 



VISIONS AND ASTKAL BODY 287 

lation of the embodied to the disembodied Soul 
would advance much faster if this point of view 
could be taken even temporarily. We should then 
be driven to seek the meaning and capacity of Soul 
nerves, instead of leaving this interesting subject 
with mere unproved assertions. The analytical 
writer sees the real Soul, of which many never get 
but a glimpse. -What must be added to his capacity 
to satisfy humanity ? There are answers, but they 
will never be found by giving reins to a crude im- 
agination. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

" OVERWATCHING ANGELS " 

There is a beautiful little picture in the minds of 
many, where angels are guarding the uncertain 
footsteps of childhood and protecting them from 
danger. The picture is so beautiful, so restful, that 
it seems to shut out of sight the many terrible 
things which happen to helpless childhood. It is so 
beautiful that many would rather rest in its beauty 
undisturbed than have the ideal questioned, even 
for the purpose of making such protection possible 
for all children. The world is full of helpless chil- 
dren, and " Heaven " must contain innumerable 
mothers whose instinct would be to protect these 
children, if it were possible ; for once a mother, 
always a mother to little children. 

Why then is childhood so full of tragedies ? Sor- 
row and suffering are necessary to every one, at a 
certain stage ; but it needs to be exactly graded to 
the individuality of each; and childhood is not 
profited by tragedies. This not the place for assert- 
ing that it is God's will, when there are so many 
logical reasons to be advanced. No one can know 
the will of an Omnipotent Being in such cases and 
it is always safe to lay any unhappy conditions to 
some defect in humanity itself. 

If the child is sent into this life, it is safer to as- 

288 



"OVEIiWATCHING ANGELS" 289 

sume that it was meant to have the development 
that was normal and was meant to remain the 
normal time. Neither can it be assumed that the 
mother " would be too absorbed in the glory of the 
future " to notice her child's needs, or " too obedient 
to the divine will, to interfere " as she would have 
done on earth. 

If then this tradition be the truth, we need to 
ask what are the capacities to be gained, in order 
that every mother may have the power to protect 
her child after death has taken her away. If it be 
only a fiction, mothers should no longer be deceived 
with promises which make them less alert in guard- 
ing against any chance of leaving their children 
without a mother's care. 

Mother love has developed to a wonderful height 
but not necessarily in all the qualities or character- 
istics, that are meant for it. Many a mother who 
would sacrifice her life for her child is often unable 
to assist it while with it because of defective will 
power or inability to detect danger. There is no 
logical reason for assuming that death increases 
capacity of any kind. Those who prefer to believe 
so, cannot be criticized ; but there are mothers 
who would not dare to make a mistake, just for the 
sake of temporary comfort. 

THE MISSION OF DEATH 

The mission of death may be for the purpose of 
arousing just such questions as these. To dry the 
eyes of the mourner and counsel resignation may be 
defeating a means provided for severer criticism of 



290 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

the many weaknesses which are permitted unques- 
tioned in the human character. The management 
of the entire universe is upon the most practical 
basis, as far as we are able to see. To-day, it is be- 
coming imperative that we strip from the idea of 
the disembodied life all oriental imagery and look 
upon the Soul's relation to this life, in the most 
practical way possible. This is not to be done by 
depending upon phenomena, which is too often the 
only means used in spiritualism. 

There are two ways in which a child would be 
rescued from impending danger by a disembodied 
Soul if the ability exists. The child or the danger 
would have to be lifted bodily away or the child 
could be warned, through telepathy, to avoid it, (if 
the power to send a thought message still existed). 
Each one should decide for himself, the possibility 
of these two acts. 

No one could say that children have not been 
warned away from danger in this way. Many a 
child has turned aside, just at the right moment, 
and it is impossible to look into its mind to learn 
what influenced it to do so. But even if the cause 
had been a telepathic message from a disembodied 
Soul, there have been no instances where either the 
danger or the child have been lifted bodily out of 
the way by such agents. 

And yet there have been many cases where the 
only chance for escape, lay in this power of a 
ghostly hand to reach down and remove the cause 
which threatened the child's safety. This would 
mean the possession of the same disembodied 



"OVERWATCIIING ANGELS" 291 

strength which was described in the chapter upon 
miracles. If such a power has ever been exercised, 
the fact has not been proved. 

As for the power to warn the child through a 
telepathic message — such a capacity is very rare 
at present even while the Soul is in the body. If 
it is to be a means for protecting helpless childhood, 
should there not be some practical interest in its 
cultivation? If this poetic tradition has had any 
influence at all, however, it has been in the direc- 
tion of destroying the practical interest. 

This extreme case of danger is used in this con- 
nection for two reasons ; to waken the imagination 
as to the class of capacities which would be needed 
in a disembodied state, and to substitute the prac- 
tical for the poetic, or sentimental point of view. 
As has been stated repeatedly whatever else Divin- 
ity may stand for, practicalness and most faithful 
insistence upon the law of cause and effect are in 
constant evidence. 

THE SOUL'S DEPENDENCE UPON THE BODY 

The cultivation of the devotion of the mother 
seems to have been one great objective point in 
Evolution. Instead then of assuming that it be- 
comes lessened through the distractions of a future 
glory, Ave need a more natural explanation of the 
[evident inability to protect one's child after death. 
Death might also be a plan simply for drawing at- 
tention to the Soul's inability to accomplish with- 
out the aid of a physical body. If this life should 
be, as it seems to be, a means for perfecting the 



292 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

Soul's strength and its power to discern all neces- 
sary conditions, it is evident that many devices 
would be needed to arouse interest in this use of 
life. 

If a " Father " were interested in the strength 
and wisdom of the human Soul, independent of the 
aid of the body — and why not ? — we should expect 
the constant presence of some device for revealing 
this Soul's weakness. What situation would do 
this more perfectly than the one which the death 
of a mother often creates — a child in deadly peril, 
no other help near, and the mother, (however well 
she may see), with no physical voice to warn, or 
physical hands to help. Closest study of this Ego 
so far, declares that the only help a disembodied 
Soul could give would be through telepathy — the 
strength of thought power or will. Who has it to 
any extent ? 

But for the " Mother and Child " humanity might 
never have evolved beyond the savage state. But 
why are we to imagine that the limit of the moth- 
er's development is now reached ? It needs but 
little investigation to decide how much of this Soul 
strength is possessed at present, and I think there 
is no authority for believing that it is created by 
the act of dying. The world of human interests is 
moved mainly by the strength of muscle and money. 
Motherhood is made helpless perhaps that women 
may be forced to discover to what extent thought 
power alone may be depended upon. Some one 
had to make this discovery, in time, and it concerns 
the woman most. 



"OVEK WATCHING ANGELS" 293 

Meanwhile, to approach this subject practically, 
will help remove the foulest blot upon civilization — 
the frauds which prey upon human devotion, and 
which the conscientious spiritualist must regret in- 
tensely. The credulity which makes these frauds 
possible is not a subject for contemptuous criticism 
and neglect. Instead it is itself a keen criticism 
upon many plans of education. It requires the dis- 
semination of the scientific spirit, to render these 
frauds innoxious. This dissemination is not made 
to reach those who need it most ; in consequence, 
the intelligence of the day owes to these a duty, in- 
stead of contempt. The Psychic Kesearch Society 
is working indefatigably in this direction, especially 
in the search for reliable phenomena. There are 
other directions in which the search should be car- 
ried. As stated, the laws which govern the human 
Soul, if discovered, would explain the entire ques- 
tion. 

Practical discussions, based upon such laws as 
are known, would assist greatly. Nothing is gained 
by attacking the frauds ; remove their support and 
they will disappear of themselves. The Soul itself 
must be studied and conscientious efforts made to 
draw a dividing line between what is possible and 
what is not. Discussions upon such subjects, car- 
ried on in the scientific spirit, that is not 
based on foregone conclusions or prejudice, w T ould 
do much to remove this foul blot from our 
civilization : while the knowledge of the Ego 
that would be gained would be most interest- 
ing. 



294 A PEACTICAL STUDY- OF THE SOUL 

WHAT SUCH POWERS WOULD MEAN 

Such a telegraphic system as is claimed to exist 
between this life and a disembodied one, would call 
for. a combination of all the Soul's capacities, which 
have been named in this study, and others besides. 
Also these would have to exist in the highest state 
of efficiency. A combination of all these powers is 
possible, and so also is a high state of efficiency, un- 
der proper training ; but at this stage, it will not be 
possible for any one to assert that such a telegraphic 
system is or is not possible. Still this should not 
prove a bar to an intelligent and practical discussion 
of the subject, if only for the purpose of lessening 
credulity of both kinds — that which affirms and 
that which denies, without proof. 

The subject will not be taken up here, however, 
because so much of the argument would deal with 
conditions not yet brought out. A study of the 
Ego presents many practical suggestions as to the 
meaning of a disembodied life ; but these should be 
presented carefully, before attempting to define the 
difficulties that must stand in the way of establish- 
ing such a telegraphic system, as the one required 
in the situation presented. This will come more ap- 
propriately in a study of the Soul's disembodied 
state after devoting some chapters to developing the 
powers already possessed, 



CHAPTER XXX 

EXERCISE OF SOUL 

There is a scientific wa}^ for developing the body. 
If Soul be a " finer body " we must assume that 
there is also a scientific way for developing it. 
The term develop is not used however, with refer- 
ence to cultivating sentiments, beliefs, etc., or to 
make the Soul either good or intelligent, according 
to the conventional meaning of these words. This 
development is for the purpose of enabling the Soul 
to meet every requirement, mental, moral, physical, 
that can be made of it. The subject of Exercise, 
then will apply to the cultivation of every capacity 
which has been suggested through this study as a 
capacity of the Ego, beginning with those which 
come without doubt through the action of the sen- 
sory and motor nerves. 

The requirements to be made of the Ego, in this 
life alone, have been stated frequently. It must be 
able to discern situations and conditions, even of an 
ethereal nature ; it must be able to act in any situ- 
ation and to control all necessary conditions, how- 
ever difficult. 

TILE NEED FOR EXERCISE 

These capacities are necessary whether the Soul 
Ibe a "finer bod}' " or not, and to gain these, there 

295 



296 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

must be daily exercises of many descriptions. This 
exercise will be for the purpose of increasing the 
facility, suppleness, with which Soul responds to 
the action of the sensory nerves, and for increasing 
the strength, promptness and clearness with which 
it can command the motor nerves. The extent 
to which this suppleness and strength are to be de- 
veloped no one can limit but one who knows every- 
thing about this Soul. The character of the devel- 
opment may be understood somewhat by bearing 
in mind three things. First, the character of the 
demands which the exigencies of living make upon 
the Soul and which we must have been intended to 
meet successfully. Second, the capacities which 
Soul possesses, as far as can be discovered, and 
which must have been intended for cultivation. 
Third, the various causes of failures, which must 
need to be removed, if living is to become a suc- 
cess. 

"With the demands every one is somewhat famil- 
iar. The capacities and causes need far broader 
consideration than they are getting. As stated be- 
fore, the necessities of living which make demands 
upon these powers, seem graded so as to present 
with each generation severer training and severer 
tests. An athlete who has learned each step per- 
fectly, in his profession, enjoys the added diffi- 
culties. The trained Soul will find the same de- 
light in meeting and conquering mental and moral 
difficulties. 

To decide how well humanity is fitted — as a race 
— to meet these demands, it will be necessary to 



EXEKCISE OF SOUL 297 

cease keeping the eyes fastened upon the successes 
only. It is not the few successes which measure the 
efficacy of any institution, but the number of fail- 
ures which attend its progress. The grading evi- 
dently pays no attention to what the Soul has been 
doing with its past opportunities. There are no 
examinations in this school, with permission to go 
back and try over, before having to meet the newer 
conditions. We pass up ; as to-day into the condi- 
tions where thought force seems to have become the 
greatest of necessities ; and we fail, often for all 
time, if the strength has not been cultivated. Many 
failures are due to the attempt to create intelligence 
and goodness without any thought of cultivating 
the capacities of discerning and willing, by which 
alone Soul can become intelligent and good. 

CAPACITIES. 

The more closely the Ego is studied, the more it 
gives the impression of having been originally 
equipped for meeting the practical issues of life, 
of every description. There seems even with 
the present limited view, to be a capacity provided 
for every issue, and only waiting to be cultivated. 
There is no physical need, except that of flying, for 
which the human body is not provided, and the 
same seems to be true of Soul's more ethereal needs. 

Where this quickness of perception and strength of 
will power have been created in past generations they 
can be and are handed down for a definite length 
of time. Sooner or later however the supply dies 
out if there are no provisions for recreating it. The 



298 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

Soul then ceases to be able to meet even the 
simplest duties, either through inability to recognize 
them, or inability to control either one's self, or the 
situation. 

There exists every possible grade of these classes 
of inability to meet the demands of existence, but 
the education furnished to remove them, is con- 
fined almost entirely to books. There are however, 
many grades of development where this education 
cannot remove the inability to discern situations or 
to will the acts necessary to remove them. Cannot 
cultivate the second set of powers, that is. 

ONE CAUSE OF FAILURE. 

In such circumstances, the attempt to carry on 
the cultivation through book education alone, will 
be a failure, because this requires that one shall 
have already gained something of the difficult art 
of holding the attention pinned down, and of con- 
trolling the Soul in uninteresting or difficult situ- 
ations. This is a fundamental necessity: but 
education through books deals largely with abstract 
ideas, and to look at an idea long enough to under- 
stand it, is a very different affair from looking at a 
material object. One not accustomed to the effort, 
cannot do this work at first. A very uneducated 
person can look steadily at a material object and 
have the nerves exercised, by the looking. But 
even very learned people cannot always look 
steadily at some unaccustomed line of thought 
until its meaning is perfectly grasped. 

An extreme illustration will reveal these difficul- 



EXEKCISE OF SOUL 299 

tics more clearly. Imagine the success one would 
have in trying to train an intelligent monkey 
through books. His attention could be held down 
to a number of material entities : he might be eas- 
ily taught to distinguish color, for instance, if a way 
were found to make him know what was being at- 
tempted. But try to get him to look at an idea, or 
listen to an opinion, and he could never be able to 
know even that such an attempt was being made. 

It must be remembered, that a monkey is not 
lacking in intelligence of a certain grade ; it is only 
lacking in all appreciation of the abstract or of the 
control revealed in the second set of powers ; and 
there are many human beings as deficient in power 
to discern or control ethereal entities. 

An intelligent monkey is far in advance of the 
problem, which Nature first had on her hands, in 
training the race ; and yet, (as before stated), with 
no aid from books whatever, she brought humanity 
to where it could discern ethereal entities of a cer- 
tain class. It must be necessary then to understand 
her method. 

The first step in Nature's development, consisted 
in fixing the attention of the sensory nerves, upon 
something which had the power to hold them 
steadily, as fast as each cell was created. It was 
necessary to hold them steady so that they might 
receive the communicated motion from the ether, 
which was to create the swiftness and shortness of 
undulation by which alone, one is able to see and 
hear. 

The attention must be fixed, in the same way, in 



300 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

order to discern the abstract ; but until either the 
nerves or the Soul have had this training through 
the material world, the abstract is not able itself to 
create the conditions which can hold the attention. 
This will be plain, if one considers the difference 
between trying to hold the attention fixed upon a 
most vivid description of a musical selection, and 
listening to the selection itself. Even an animal in 
this last case could not entirely escape having the 
auditory nerve receive some impression of a noise 
going on. The animal's nerves must respond in 
some degree to ether vibrations; but even an edu- 
cated person not interested in music, might fail to 
get the slightest effect from the written descrip- 
tion. 

There is a similar set of conditions in connec- 
tion with the use of the motor nerves. Whatever 
man has to do, whether on the material or the 
ethereal plain, requires first that he shall have 
gained the will and strength to accomplish it. This 
is as necessary when this strength is to be exercised 
upon problems and temptations as when it 
is to be used upon the muscles. This strength 
was created first through exercise of the muscles 
upon material objects, not upon problems and temp- 
tations. It is reasonable to assert then, that where 
this has died out, it cannot be recreated first 
through association with ethereal entities, such as 
the book education usually furnishes. 

THE NEED OF MATERIAL ENTITIES 

Every believer in evolution realizes that there was 



EXERCISE OF SOUL 301 

a long period in the early days of the race, when it 
was not conscious of anything but the material 
world around it, and when ideas of duty and re- 
sponsibility were as impossible to it, as to many an- 
imals. And yet, strength of the Soul was being 
cultivated all the time. But it was necessary for 
the Soul to wrestle first with something tangible, 
visible, having weight, size, form. One can take 
hold of a material object, wrestle with it, conquer 
it, carry it and be gaining strength of the Ego all 
the time. This can be done, when the Soul could 
make no attempt to perform the acts required in 
the second half of the second powers. 

Dogs and horses are very intelligent animals, but 
imagine them trying to hold the Soul to a line of 
thought or argument. Yet book education requires 
the Soul to assume many intricate and most difficult 
attitudes, as real as those necessary in the physical 
body. It really seems then, that the necessary 
suppleness must be created first through exercise 
with material objects. It is certainly true, that ed- 
ucated people are not always equal to the intricate 
evolutions demanded of the Ego in grasping prob- 
lems or meeting temptations. 

Strength grows through exercise ; but it seems 
as if a certain foundation must be first laid — before 
humanity can gain exercise through conquering 
problems and temptations though each of these 
seems furnished for this purpose. In spite of cen- 
turies of education, there are many to-day who have 
no ability to sense the abstract, or exercise self-con- 
trol in intricate and unaccustomed situations. 



302 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

There must be a reason for this, especially if Soul 
has lived forever ; still more especially, if this Soul 
is a creation of an Omnipotent Being. Is this due 
perhaps to the fact that in the enthusiasm over 
books, Nature's way has been lost sight of ? 

Kindergartens, manual training, and technolog- 
ical institutions are based upon Nature's methods ; 
but even if there were enough of these established, 
there are many other means which need to be 
placed in their true light as cultivators of the Ego, 
when used with judginent. This point of view be- 
comes the more essential, wherever an educated 
nation undertakes the development of a very primi- 
tive one. Often the more educated, in the usual 
acceptance of this term, the less fitted for this most 
difficult work. This point of view would also ex- 
plain reasonably why the Catholic religion is ab]e 
to appeal more readily to primitive nations. It 
does not demand their attention for abstract ideas 
alone but appeals to the senses through which na- 
ture first cultivated the race. 

This constant appeal to the senses through color, 
form, sound, etc., is the only means by which the 
untrained Soul can be put in a condition to receive 
more ethereal influences. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

EXERCISE OF SOUL — NATURE'S METHOD 

As stated in Chapter V this exercise for the Ego 
could have been given at first, only through the 
vibrations of the sensory and motor nerves. In 
those first days also, there could have been nothing 
to arouse these sensory nerves into action, but the 
material world. The motor nerves, as now, re- 
ceived their impetus from the Soul ; but the strength 
of this impetus was due to this material environ- 
ment, where now an idea or opinion can arouse 
many to action. Exercise began and ended then, 
with the material elements, and wherever Nature 
was not interfered with by circumstances beyond 
her control, her work went steadily on. 

Then, after long training through this nervous 
system, there began to dawn upon the race some 
idea that there were other entities besides material 
ones ; other objects to be controlled besides muscle. 
Ideas began to get their glimmering attention ; 
opinions began to be formed ; and, very slowly, 
was commenced the collection of material for the 
making of books, ages later. 

THE BEGINNING OF SOUL'S EXERCISE 

Not only the race's exercise, but its education 
also, began with these sensory nerves, and the ma- 

303 



304: A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

terial universe was all the book to be had. But 
this book could tell no untruths. Neither could it 
be misinterpreted for long. Disaster or death, was 
the final result of any misinterpretation. 

From the beginning of life upon the globe then, 
until man reached consciousness and began to plan 
for himself, this quiet, slow education went steadily 
on. Long before man began to speculate, or to 
hear the voices of gods in the thunder, and see the 
flash of their eyes in the lightning, Nature was at 
her work. Before the making of books, or the 
handing down of legends, before the fashioning of 
a single instrument, the foundation for all present 
capacities was being constructed by these wonderful 
means. Before even the art of expression was 
possible, except in a wail of agony or a grunt of 
satisfaction, or a growl of indignation, the marvelous 
work of fashioning and training these nerves was 
absorbing Nature's attention. 

Every impulse from her sights and sounds and 
conditions, every situation which drove or coaxed 
the race to action, added cell by cell to the extent 
of these nerves, and little by little to their capacity. 
This capacity meant the utmost swiftness, trueness, 
and intensity of action both in discerning and 
willing. And now after this long, long training 
that should make this art a perfect one, there is no 
talk but of shattered nerves and nervous prostra- 
tion and even with a sense of pride in the posses- 
sion. This is because man has never learned that 
the care of the nerves was not to be left to the 
physican alone : that as a telegraphic system be- 



NATUKE'S METHOD 305 

tween the Soul and the Universe of ethereal and 
the material entities, it must have other care than 
this one institution can give. 

Since in Nature's hands even the creation of the 
nervous system went steadily on, doubtless, if man 
went back to Nature's way the health of these 
nerves might be secured and their further develop- 
ment continued. This system was a child of Nature, 
used to the wild, free action of life. To shut it up 
within the cramped walls of civilization, to narrow 
it down to routines that are most monotonous, if 
not actually trivial, is one great reason for the de- 
terioration of the nervous system. 

It is exercise, exercise, exercise, that is being 
called for to-day in every walk of life, and it needs 
to be portioned out very differently from the 
methods at present considered all sufficient. Every 
human Soul needs every class of exercise in order 
that its mental, moral, and physical strength may 
be cultivated. 

The coming of Christ has failed in its mission, as 
long as it is thought right for some Souls to have a 
surfeit of all the inspirations that come through the 
senses, while others have not even sunlight and 
fresh air. The lower the human being, the more, 
not the less, is needed these inspirations. Nature 
furnished all she possessed in this direction, without 
discrimination. 

In the exercise to be gained by means of the 
motor nerves, the conditions were somewhat differ- 
ent, because then, as to-day, it was easier to avoid 
the use of the motor nerves. Humanity could not, 



306 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

as a rule, refuse to receive the ether undulations 
which created the impressions of the senses. 
Many could, and do refuse to use the motor nerves, 
except where necessity drives. 

EXERCISE OF SOUL THROUGH WORK 

Then as now, those who will not be coaxed, need 
to be driven, no matter where they stand in 
the social scale. Nature furnished both methods. 
To assist still further with getting the Soul into 
action, Nature began with the childhood of the 
race, as soon as it was intelligent enough, as the 
child begins to-day. That is, she furnished play, 
though the toys were very different from those now 
in use. This play was what we now call work, and 
with it, the necessarv care of materials. But it 
would hardly have been considered work in the 
objectionable sense, in the beginning, because every 
action the race learned to perfect itself in, was then 
an added acquirement, for which credit was given. 
Action became therefore a delight, though in this 
beginning the simplest work was all that the human 
Soul was equal to. ( Unfortunately, " Progress " is 
returning more and more of the race to that con- 
dition to-day.) 

It would seem that work was intended always to 
hold this dignified position as educator of the Soul. 
The most significant statement about the Messiah 
is that he was a carpenter. Humanity believes 
that work was invented that man might make a 
living. It seems far more reasonable that the need 



NATURE'S METHOD 307 

to make a living was " planned " in order that the 
race should not miss the magnificent drill of work 
performed perfectly. 

But this does not mean too much work, or all 
work for those who have already learned this lesson 
and are ready to graduate. Neither does it mean 
drudgery, except for those entirely unable to under- 
take anything else. A monkey would have to begin 
with drudgery ; but to-day there should be no 
human being who needs it. Too much work or 
drudgery helps to degrade. 



VARIETIES OF WOKK 

While Nature began with work and the care of 
things, there has been gradually added to this 
system of education many other means. These are 
all of the same nature as the work (though this will 
be denied), because they furnish to the Soul a 
chance for exercise through the motor nerves. 
They differ from work, only because they permit of 
so much greater variety of exercise and bring into 
play so many more opportunities for varieties of 
commands from Soul. 

The means in use for this exercise of the Soul 
then, are Manual Labor, in its broadest sense, 
Athletics, and the Arts, upon the mechanical side 
only. 

It is unfortunate that Manual Labor has become 
so associated with ditch digging and similar work, 
that its great range is not recognized. 

Manual Labor includes any kind of action that 



308 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

calls the motor nerves into exercise, through the 
hands — from the blacking of a shoe, to the execu- 
tion of the artist upon canvas or instrument. The 
ethereal part of any art, is the idea to be expressed 
by it. This is something that belongs to Soul, in- 
dependent of the physical. But the act of expres- 
sion is a mechanical act, and the means, material 
means. Until this distinction is made in art, its 
real benefit to humanity will not be attained. The 
mechanical art of expression, with its training for 
the fingers, is needed by every one as exercise for 
the Soul through motor nerves. When all possess 
this facility, only those who have something to ex- 
press with it, will care to challenge attention. 1 

MANUAL LABOR 

In taking up these three institutions, there will be 
no further attempt to draw a dividing line, between 
the training for sensory and motor nerves. The 
exercise from the last will get the most attention 
from now on ; but it must not be forgotten that one 
must be able to discern, before one can act, in any 
direction. 

The first exercise for the Soul of the race came 
through the exigencies of living, and could not he 
avoided. Humanity was surrounded with dangers 
of every description. These kept the senses keyed 

1 In the pictorial and plastic arts, this training in the art of ex- 
pression, should be commenced with the very young child. Then if 
later, there comes something of value to be expressed, the fresh- 
ness of inspiration will not all be lost, before the difficult art can be 
gained. 



NATURE'S METHOD 309 

up to their highest point of efficiency, and gradually 
aroused the latent ingenuity, necessary to meet 
them. These dangers also, were visible and audi- 
ble, so that even poor nerves were obliged to be 
somewhat conscious of their presence. It seems 
reasonable then that this constant exercise, should 
have been meant to cultivate the capacity to rec- 
ognize the more ethereal obstacles to success and 
happiness, which exist to-day. 

After long training in keeping the senses con- 
stantly alert, there must have been formed the habit 
of intense listening and looking which are so neces- 
sary when ethereal entities are to be considered — 
problems, difficulties, subtle phases of character. 
The great differences which exist in individuals, in 
discerning these, are never matters of chance. 

It was through these early demands upon motor 
nerves, which could not be avoided, that the funda- 
mental and exotic habits, of perseverance, prompt- 
ness, courage, endurance, judgment, were formed. 
To-day, we should no longer need these extreme 
conditions to drive to exercise. Humanity should 
realize the value of work, and take the necessary 
lexercise from choice. 

When finally, in the dim past, the sensory nerves 
>f the race became sufficiently developed to rec- 
>gnize desirable and undesirable conditions, the 
>oul began to use the motor nerves to seek or 
svade such conditions, and will-power and strength 
>egan to be cultivated. To-day, it is often the 
\neans for cultivating these that humanity is trying 
lo evade. Where this training was not interfered 



310 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

with too seriously in the long line of descent, we 
have to-day, those who have reached the height 
where they do not have to be driven or coaxed to 
action ; where, as with the athlete, exercise in any 
line becomes a delight from pure love of action. 
It would seem as if this were the state the human 
Soul was meant to attain, in every case. 

Where this training of Nature's has been inter- 
fered with to a great degree, we have the degen- 
erate of all grades ; and it is useless to attempt to 
supply the deficiency through books. It cannot be 
said too often that the mental or Soul characteristics 
which make it possible to take book education, can- 
not be created by books. 

KESULTS FROM NATURE'S METHOD 

The result of this training, was an exercise of the 
will-power which could not be evaded. Exercise of 
the will-power is just as necessary for success in 
taking a book education, as in escaping from a wild 
beast ; also the consequences of evading the 
exercise, are just as real, and often just as calamitous 
— for the Soul. But unfortunately, these conse- 
quences cannot be seen or felt, by the materialist ; 
or if seen, they are not recognized as consequences. 
The wild beast would have been killed, and the 
hunger and cold provided for in some way, but the 
ethereal causes not being recognized, are never re- 
moved ; especially, if the Soul is indolent or dull. 
In the first days of the race, there were no means but 
material ones to prod the Soul into activity, be- 



NATURE'S METHOD 311 

cause ambition, duty, the sense of responsibility, 
with the fundamental virtues, of perseverance, 
industry, criticalness, etc., had not yet been culti- 
vated, as they are not cultivated in most animals 
to-day. 

Now, we have innumerable means for this culti- 
vation, but they are not often recognized as a 
means. 

Meantime, the training of eye and hand and 
3rain — and through these of the Soul — which go 
into the making of a skilled workingman, is beyond 
price. From this use of the hands in the beginning, 
came gradually the power to make tools. Qualities 
nost valuable are developed through the use of 
nany varieties of tools. They are the basic qualities 
Irom which come the ability to use means which 
ire not material, for controlling life and humanity. 
3ne may have inherited these qualities from a 
vorking ancestor of high grade. But without this 
nheritance, or personal training, one will lack judg- 
ent and resource, in every unaccustomed situation. 
The value of manual labor in exercising the Soul's 
vill-power and in creating basic qualities, consists 
artly in the variety of commands which Soul must 
end through the motor nerves, to the muscles of 
he hands. Now all hands are equipped with the 
ame nerves and muscles, and capable therefore of 
aking exercise in every variety of ways. Not that 
he work of each will compare with the best ; but 
; is not the Soul's work that is being considered, 
ut the Soul's needs, which are the most important 
f all considerations. 



312 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

But again, it is not an excess of work for the many, 
and entire absence of it from the lives of the few, that 
is meant in this connection. Neither is it the drudg- 
ery for the majority who do work, and the dainty 
uses of the motor nerves, for the few. This is not 
what our constitution stands for. It must be evi- 
dent then, that if a human being of to-day is kept 
always at a very limited class of occupations, Soul 
is being defrauded of the greater part of the exer- 
cise which it needs for its development, and becom- 
ing degenerate to that extent. At present an oppor- 
tunity for something besides work, or even for variety 
in work, is impossible, for a great majority. But 
this training could be begun in the schools by placing 
manual training as furnished by the arts on an 
equal footing with the book education, in every 
grade. The book education would have to take less 
room, but there would be a gain in the thinking 
capacity of the pupils, that would more than com- 
pensate. But in spite of civilization, many con- 
tinue to sink into conditions of degradation, and 
Nature's drastic methods still exist, (though unfor- 
tunately, the ones who may really need their drill 
are often the ones who can evade it). 

The value of Manual Labor then, when graded 
exactly to the needs of all classes — Soul needs — is a 
real factor in education. Also, its value is not di- 
minished in the least by the fact that it seems im- 
possible to make a distinction between a real and a 
fictitious scarcity of work. It is hoped then that 
work, as a means for exercising the Ego's strength 
and will-power, may be kept carefully separated in 



NATURE'S METHOD 313 

this connection from the immense problem with 
which it is so unhappily associated. 1 

THE CAKE OF MATERIALS 

This means at least, for exercise through the use 
of the hands, is within the reach of all, and has un- 
told value. Even the most unfortunate being has 
some personal belongings, upon which could be 
spent care and ingenuity, if only the habit were 
persistently taught in home, school and church. 
But this will not be done, until it can be recognized 
that disorder, slovenliness, waste of any kind, all 
mean a weak and inefficient Soul that must be an 
offense to an Omnipotent Being. Is not this the 
lesson that Nature is teaching every hour as she 
hastens to remove every sign of decay or disorder 
in her domain, and in the most economical manner ? 

The more extreme the conditions in which one is 
placed, the more valuable the exercise can become. 
It requires a perfectly trained eye which means a 
trained Soul, to detect in extreme conditions, the 
best way to dispose of limited space, to plan for the 
best and most effective use of scanty material; 
while to divide seconds of time, and make each 
carry its little burden, because no fraction can be 
wasted, calls for a highly trained will-power. The 

1 Since there is no real scarcity of work, but only of work that 
is paid for, since the world is swamped with work that needs to be 
done, those whose brains have not yet been sufficiently developed 
by this means, need have no fear of interfering with the rights of 
those who must make a living by work, if they take this exercise 
without pay. 



314 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

possession of these capacities must mean a certain 
efficiency of Soul in this one direction, Avhich cor- 
responds to the efficiency of the body that is able 
to put into prompt and successful use, every muscle 
that is needed in any situation. A clumsy body is 
not beautiful : what then must a clumsy Soul be ? 

In exercising economy of space and time num- 
berless unnoticed mental actions are taking place 
constantly, through coming to decisions in the dis- 
posal of materials; and with each act, the Soul's 
power to discern and will through sensory and 
motor nerve, is gaining in swiftness, precision and 
strength. 

This exercise of the Soul, through the care of the 
individual belongings, is possible to every one, and 
should be commenced with the child a y ear old. 
Indeed children have been known to show this in- 
stinct for order even younger, and it means an in- 
herited grace of the Soul. If this training were 
carried on with judgment, with an intelligent un- 
derstanding of the child's strength, mental and 
physical, and a realization of the incessant need for 
encouragement^ this exercise would be really play, 
until the habit was formed that would stand more 
serious demands. 

In certain past generations, when space and time 
were plentiful, and one's belongings not so start- 
lingly numerous, this dainty care of one's posses- 
sions was almost a religion. It should be still. It 
is a religion, since it deals with the character of the 
Soul. 

The bewildering rush which life lias come to 



NATURE'S METHOD 315 

mean, and which so many deplore, is simpty a step 
in evolution, by which the Ego can measure its ac- 
quired capacities, and also be driven to cast off all 
the accumulations of the ages, which are really 
valueless. A species of house cleaning, that is, that 
is especially appropriate at the close of each cen- 
tury. But one needs to criticize most carefully any 
ballast that is being thrown overboard to-day, as 
we rush along this swelling stream of life. It is 
the useless or pernicious habits and opinions, which 
need to be dropped forever, not this wonderful ex- 
ercise through work and this care of materials. 

To-day, it would require almost superhuman 
strength and perceptive powers to continue the old 
traditions of system, order, specklessness, and also 
assume the pressing duties of the present. The 
strictest economy of time, space, material, indicates 
a mental strength which is simply impossible to the 
great majority, under our present system of de- 
velopment. 

OUR NATIONAL DEFECT 

Unfortunately, in our country at least, this idea 
of economy has become so associated with the idea 
of niggardliness, that it will be difficult to make the 
subtle distinction between the true economy, which 
means this fine strength, and the habit which goes 
by the name and means only weakness. 

The most significant fact about our wonderful 
colonial days was the severe drill in economy, 
through work and the care of materials, to which 
intelligent and conscientious people were subjected. 



316 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

It was almost a repetition of those remote days 
when only Nature was in charge, except for the 
presence of these factors of intelligence and con- 
scientiousness. It is to this long and fearful ex- 
perience, that our Nation owes much of its fibre. 
It is to the almost deliberate neglect of this kind of 
drill that its fibre is surely deteriorating in many 
directions. Our Country is the last one in which 
the mismanagements in the care of materials, places 
and people, during our late war with Spain should 
have been possible. Indeed, the duty of dignifying 
work, in the sense of manual labor is one that be- 
longs especially to our Country, since until this is 
done, one of the most alluring clauses in our con- 
stitution is of little real value. 

There can be no such thing as equality of even 
opportunity, which is all that can be demanded, as 
long as men are looked upon as a separate class be- 
cause they work, instead of only because of poor 
work and the presence of objectionable character- 
istics which are not inseparable from work itself. 



CHAPTER XXXII 

THE ARTS — EXERCISE THROUGH THE SENSORY 

NERVES 

The mission of the Arts is fourfold. 

First, they cause to be born into the conscious- 
ness a multitude of facts, truths, conditions which 
exist in the Universe, and through which the Ego 
becomes more and more acquainted with the ma- 
terial world. 

Second, through these numerous revelations which 
come by means of the ether undulations, the Soul 
is brought in closer contact, with the great heart of 
the Universe, by whatever name this may be 
called. 

Third, as the result of this exercise through the 
sensory nerves, the Soul is presently inspired to 
efforts through the motor nerves, in directions not 
suggested by other influences. This effort means in 
every case, the art of expression, for which the ages 
of evolution have been constantly preparing the 
Ego. 

This third and the fourth mission of the arts are 
the only ones that will be taken up in this connec- 
tion. This fourth mission is that of furnishing to 
the Soul through the sensory nerves, a class of ex- 
ercises that no other institution could give. 

This last exercise, as explained in the fifth chap- 

317 



318 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

ter, is due to the vibrations of the sensory nerves to 
which the Soul is obliged to respond, as when lis- 
tening to music or looking at a picture. It is the 
mechanical act of this response only, that is consid- 
ered. In speaking of art as a cultivator of the Ego 
then, I am not meaning any studies of the history 
or evolution of art, or of different schools or 
methods or biographies of artists. Such studies 
have nothing to do with the exercise one gains 
through looking and listening. Neither do they 
have much to do with the eternal verities, which 
art is meant to reveal. To call these a study of 
art, is indeed most confusing, since to be absorbed 
in these details, is often to shut out the real bene- 
fits this great institution is intended to bring to the 
race. 1 

The exercise which is furnished to the Soul 
through the sensory nerves, often could be furnished 
in no other way. This will be recognized, if one 
recalls the many different ethereal entities with 
which the Soul is brought in contact by this means, 
and remembers that each one probably calls for a 
different rate, intensity and swiftness of response in 
the nerves. 

1 This view of art has nothing to do with the many attempts to 
limit this mighty influence to personal needs. While each one has 
the right to get from this divine institution help for his smallest 
needs, no one has a right to limit the mission of art in any direc- 
tion but that of impurity. 

Whatever art can do for humanity, it should do. The egotism 
which imagines it has the right to set bounds to the work of this 
influence is the main cause for the absence of the general interest 
which should exist. 



THE ARTS 319 

THE MEANS FOR GIVING THIS EXERCISE 

The variety of the messages being carried and 
the separate effects, would each call for chapters to 
reveal clearly the training the Ego is experiencing 
through the arts ; but at this stage, the names of 
the entities alone, will be sufficient. 

Through music, the Soul is coming in contact 
with the great mystery of sound and with the 
subtle realities of tone, rhythm, harmony, the 
gamut, and the laws of composition. Through the 
pictorial art, color, light and shade, and the forms 
of natural scenery are supplying the exercise which 
Nature gives when she can reach humanity to give. 
In studying examples of the plastic art, the forms of 
animals and the wonderful lines of the human form, 
are demanding from the nerves an exercise in 
vibrating that is extremely difficult. 

The grand and simple beauty of symmetry, pro- 
portion, height and the possibilities of decoration, 
are requiring from these nerves still a different class 
of action in architecture, while in literature, the 
most difficult of all lessons, is to be learned. 

Whether it is physical or " Soul nerves " which 
are used when one is studying literature, the sub- 
jects with which it deals, are at once the most im- 
portant, and the most difficult to be discerned, much 
less appreciated. These are the Soul of man, of 
animals and of Nature, together with the great 
realm of the abstract — ideas and truths. 

It must be remembered that at present, it is the 
mechanical effect which these various objects are 
having upon the Soul through the nerves, that is 



320 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

being considered. It is the facility that is being 
gained through this contact with nerve vibration 
with its consequent result in the Soul, not the emo- 
tions which may be aroused, that is the first effect 
of exercise. It is most probable that these emo- 
tions and sentiments correspond exactly with the 
degree of facility ; that the unresponsive Soul is 
simply the one that cannot receive clear-cut, intense 
impressions, as the deaf hear indistinctly. This 
suggests again, that the refinement attributed to 
association with the arts, would mean simply the 
refining away of all awkwardness and inefficiency 
in the Soul's actions, through exercise. The possi- 
bility is at least worth considering. 

THE CHARACTER OF THE EXERCISE 

To realize the marvelous character of the exer- 
cises that are being received through the arts, one 
must recall again the table of ether vibrations in 
producing effects of color, light, sound, and connect 
them with the idea of a response from Soul, in the 
form of motion. This would suggest how clumsy 
the Soul must be which has little or no training in 
this direction. 

Also, a new standard for measuring the educa- 
tive value of the different arts would be furnished. 
If one is receiving hundreds of billions of vibrations 
a second, in looking at color, even the most desul- 
tory sauntering through a picture gallery must be 
having some desirable effect, however slight, while 
study through books may be having none at all. 

The effect from listening to music is still greater, 



THE AKTS 321 

although the rapidity of vibration is far less. The 
auditory nerves must respond to over two thousand 
vibrations a second in listening to a single high 
tone ; but one must listen to a number of tones at 
once and often to a number of instruments, each 
with their different qualities to be recognized. 
Even in listening to one tone at a time, many 
nerves are not able to respond to the vibrations 
with sufficient precision and concentration to have 
the tone heard correctly ; (or perhaps it is the Soul 
which cannot respond). In this case, the defect in 
the nerves — or Soul — would be suggested by the 
inability of the G string to give the high note of 
the more rapidly vibrating E. But if the nerves do 
not respond exactly to the length and swiftness of 
the undulations, the tone is not heard correctly ; 
and yet this defect can never be revealed unless one 
is a singer, or tunes his own instrument. Also, 
there are other defects besides those revealed in not 
discovering that voice or instrument are out of 
tune, and equally serious. 

For instance, one might have an exquisitely sen- 
sitive ear, where single tones were being given, and 
yet be entirely unable to respond to the torrent of 
effects in the complicated work of an orchestral 
performance. It is doubtful indeed, if any one is 
equal to the strain of catching every effect in such 
performances but the leaders of orchestras, or of 
choral societies. 

This is the same as saying that with the average 
person, a great many of these effects are not heard 
at all ; also that the less training the auditory nerve 



322 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

has had in listening to music, the less there will be 
heard of any selection. Then, since one cannot 
possibly appreciate what one does not hear, the dis- 
position of many artists to criticize the lack of ap- 
preciation in those who have had no opportunity to 
cultivate the auditory nerve, is very illogical. 

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN APPRECIATION AND 
ENJOYMENT 

Indeed, much that is called appreciation in music, 
is only enjoyment, a very different affair. One en- 
joys, because the multitude of vibrations beating 
upon the Soul have wakened it into an intenser life, 
given it the chance to stretch its cramped capacities 
and realize for a few blissful moments, something 
of the real meaning of being alive : but appreciation 
is something far beyond this vitality. 

This vitality would seem to bear some intimate 
relation to the perfection the Ego is meant to at- 
tain. This Soul has its own special work to do, 
and it is hard work that requires vitality and 
strength, exactly as the body requires it. The 
effect of music upon the battle-field proves that it 
is able momentarily to create the vitality. Its 
effect in daily life is just as real and due to the fact 
that an increase in vitality has been created. One 
should hear some music every day, and the less one 
cares for it, the greater the need. Even exercises, 
correctly performed and upon instruments that are 
in tune, are helping to increase the facility of the 
auditory nerve and the vitality that finally brings 
the power to appreciate. To refuse to listen to 



THE AKTS 323 

selections because one does not understand, is some- 
thing like refusing to walk, because it is an effort. 
This need for daily exercise, however limited, is 
equally true in the other arts. With every response 
the nerves are making in any art the Soul is slowly 
gaining a certain efficiency that alone means under- 
standing and appreciation. 

It is unfortunate that this abilit}?" to appreciate in 
all directions is not more generally recognized. 
The artist would think it a disgrace to be color 
blind, but cares nothing for the fact if he cannot 
distinguish tone. The musician has often the same 
indifference to his inability to recognize defects in 
form or color, while many highly educated people 
care nothing for their bluntness of nerves in both 
directions. 

The effect of the arts upon the sensory nerves, is 
greater than that to be gained through any other 
influence, with one exception. This exception is 
found in the pictorial art, and is due to the fact, 
that a certain influence gained through looking at 
Nature, is not to be gained through looking at a 
picture, however perfect its execution. This influ- 
ence is that which comes through the ether vibra- 
tions, with which one is coming in contact when- 
ever one looks out upon Nature, and which can be 
discerned without the artist's aid. All who can 
have the opportunity to come in contact with Na- 
ture then can get from it, all that a picture can 
give, and much more, when the picture is not tell- 
ing a story of some kind. 

In music, it is different. Without the aid of an 



324 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

instrument and performer, music is too subtle and 
inaudible an influence to reach the average Soul. 
(The same is true of the more ethereal entities, ideas 
and Soul, with which literature deals, when it has 
progressed beyond the story of incident, or the 
description of material objects.) 

It is well then to remember this distinction in 
looking at pictures. When one looks at a scene in 
Nature, one is coming in more vital contact with the 
ether vibrations, which are having a certain un- 
noticed effect upon the Soul all the time. In look- 
ing at pictures, much, if not all of this wonderful 
influence must be absent, because here color and form 
are not connected with life. The difference is similar 
to that which exists between looking at a color and 
reading a description of it from a book. 

THE " IDEAL " IN AET 

There is a certain effect upon the Ego from these 
ether vibrations, in the nature of increasing its 
vitality, and with it the power to discern some- 
thing besides the material objects before one. This 
something is the " ideal " so painfully sought for in 
many works, so seldom found because the best 
picture can only furnish a subtle suggestion of 
ether vibrations. But few nerves are trained 
enough to receive from the suggestions, the effect 
from the real vibrations. The " ideal " means all 
the hidden relations and meanings which Nature 
is constantly telling to those who look and listen 
patiently in her immediate presence. The ideal 
is never found by painting into the picture one's 



THE ARTS 325 

own M individuality " or by imagining that one can 
make a better picture in their studio, than when in 
faithful and humble contact with Nature herself. 

Aside from this one fact of contact with the 
ether undulations while studying Nature, much is 
to be gained from the study of pictures — where 
these tell the truth about humanity and Nature. 
This truthfulness and their ability to present the 
deeper as well as the superficial meanings of life 
should be the touch-stone of their value ; never 
their age, or the maker. 

It seems almost irreverent to dismiss with this 
sketch the exercise to the Soul which the arts are 
able to give through the sensory nerves ; but it 
must be evident that they can arouse in the Ego an 
almost limitless range of facility in receiving im- 
pressions. Where little or no drill of this kind is 
obtained, a denseness results that is deplorable. 
Imagine then the conditions of extreme poverty, 
where one sees, hears, smells nothing that can fur- 
nish an inspiration or incentive worthy of a Soul. 

This exercise of the Soul through the arts is dif- 
ferent from any that is possible through either 
manual training, or athletics. This is because in 
the first exercise, the Ego is being brought in 
this intimate contact with the ether undulations. 
If these undulations of the ether are influences radi- 
ating out from the great Source, as spiritual influ- 
ences are supposed to, it would be one of the high- 
est duties of the religionist to make it possible for all 
humanity to come in intimate relation, no matter 
how little they might care to. The Soul's growth 



326 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

is measured somewhat by the extent of its interests. 
One speaks advisedly, of a " small Soul." ! 

1 This indeed is the meaning of a great deal of the world's self- 
ishness. That is, selfishness is not so much a sin, as a great ina- 
bility to lift the eyes, or the sympathies an inch beyond purely 
personal interests : the inability to see that there is anything else 
in the world but these interests. 

To call selfishness a mighty defect or ' ' bad form ' ' to-day, would 
have more influence in removing it, than in calling it a sin. 



CHAPTEE XXXIII 

THE ARTS — EXERCISE THROUGH MOTOR NERVES 

The exercise which the arts give to Soul through 
the motor nerves, is equally extended and indispensa- 
ble. In this case, the Soul is no longer listening 
and looking, but is itself in the act of expressing 
through these means. The qualities to be gained, 
as in manual labor, are degrees of precision, prompt- 
ness and intensity of will-power. Every different 
kind of an act which the Ego wills adds still another 
subtle characteristic to this will-power, without 
which it lacks something needed for the varied 
work demanded of the Soul to-day. 

Many of the arts furnish a character of oppor- 
tunity, to be gained in no other way. It is not 
enough for this Ego, as it advances still further in 
the path of evolution, to be able to will ; a sloth 
can do that. There must enter finally into the act 
all the precision and swiftness and marvelous grace 
that imagination would naturally associate with a 
Soul. It is significant that these qualities are also 
needed for success in the life of to-day ; and the 
greater the number of different commands which 
the Ego is able to send down the motor nerves, the 
greater the exercise being furnished for this pur- 
pose. 

327 



328 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

COMPARISON OF EXERCISES THROUGH DIFFERENT 

ARTS 

If the number of actions required of the hands 
by the Arts is considered, their value in exercising 
the Soul's will-power must be evident. The one 
which meets this need most perfectly is of course 
music. One reason for this is because a musical 
performance must be rendered anew each time, 
upon the spot, and without mistakes. During each 
performance then, the Soul must be alive, and exact 
to the second in its ability to see what is to be done 
and to do it. This keeps one keyed up to a most 
strenuous intensity of effort, and to a necessity for 
concentration that is invaluable. The effect in 
arousing the subconscious self, must be beyond that 
of almost any other effort, when persisted in regu- 
larly. 

The lack of such intensity of effort in sensory 
and motor nerve results in indolent, half-hearted 
ways of working and living that causes rapid de- 
terioration. Of course there are many other ways 
of gaining this intensity, when the soul is already 
full of vitality ; but music will create the vitality. 

The pictorial art unfortunately not only permits 
this indolent, half-hearted way of working, but 
often cultivates it, with some strange idea that it is 
a sign of the artistic nature. This great difference 
between the effect of music and art is due to the 
fact that a picture is judged as a finished product 
instead of in the act of being accomplished, as with 
music. As a consequence, one may loiter over its 
execution indefinitely, may have made countless 



THE ARTS 329 

mistakes, wiped out, corrected if only in the end, a 
good result has been obtained. No one is watching 
the effect of this slovenly way of working upon the 
Soul itself ; because a human Soul is rarely consid- 
ered in connection with the picture it creates. But 
it is fortunate that there is one art where exact- 
ness is an absolute necessity. 

The same fact is true in the making of a book, 
which permits of any amount of slovenly work in 
expression during its execution, provided it is all 
wiped out in the end. Of course, exactness and 
promptness of execution are a necessity in all the 
arts ; but the necessity can be evaded temporarily 
in all but music. Sculpture demands exactness, but 
not promptness. One may permit himself to prac- 
tice in a careless way, it is true, and give that much 
more time, to perfecting the execution ; but a wise 
musician soon learns that he is training himself to 
make mistakes besides spoiling his ear by this care- 
lessness. It is singular what a check music puts 
upon all of these small, bad habits — excepting the 
one of becoming too absorbed in one direction. 1 

Where the musician tunes his own instrument, or 
the instrument is the voice, more valuable exercise 
through both sensory and motor nerves is being 
gained. Drawing could be made almost as valuable 
as music, if it were always the aim to get the perfect 

1 This is unavoidable where the living must be made through 
art ; but this study is concerned with the development of the Soul, 
and the effect of different institutions. While making a living is 
one of the institutions for prodding the Ego into action, it has 
many defects at present, and development of Soul is the highest 
motive. 



330 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

outline at first, and quickly. Slovenly drawing — 
" feeling for a line " — has a pernicious effect upon the 
character. This permitted way of working means 
simply that there has not been sufficient training 
through the sensory nerves, to begin with ; in seeing, 
that is . A little more time spent in looking and less in 
putting in work, presently to wipe it out, would make 
this exercise of double value. It is quite possible 
that where one sees with perfect correctness and 
clearness, and has been sufficiently trained in pro- 
portions, the drawing can be made correct the first 
time. The gain to the Ego would be far in advance 
of the highest value in the finished work. 

Looked at from this point of view, sculpture, after 
the rough blocking out has been done, gives the 
severest training; especially where the nude 
human form is represented. To reproduce 
these subtle lines of the human form, in 
the numberless positions possible to it, is 
really a supreme effort: but when one has 
gained the ability, something has gone into the 
development of the Ego that could have been gained 
in no other way. 

DISTINCTIONS IN THE USE OF THE ARTS 

It must be understood that this manual training, 
through the use of brush, pencil, chisel, instrument, 
is not being considered here as a means for ex- 
pressing thought. The art of expression is being 
gained, it is true, but other characteristics of the 
Ego are being gained also ; and these are indispensa- 
ble though art is never to be used as a means for 



THE AKTS 331 

expression. The great majority who learn the 
mechanical art of writing and the rules for expres- 
sion, never intended to be writers, except in the 
most limited way. In the same way, a certain 
amount of training in all the arts is necessary for 
every one, as exercise. 

It cannot be said too often that a constant dis- 
tinction must be made the use of the arts to express 
ideas or conditions, and their use as exercise to in- 
crease the Soul's ability to discern and will. This 
last efficiency the lowest human being needs. Art 
itself would be freed from many misconceptions, if 
this distinction were insisted upon. It has many 
missions besides that of creating artists or catering 
to the few needs to which it has been limited by the 
ignorant thinkers of the past. Art is not something 
which man has created, but a great and most beau- 
tiful influence given to elevate the whole human 
race individually. But this is not to be done by 
keeping the majority in the attitude of looking and 
listening only. Each must be permitted to do the 
work which Art requires, without criticism. The 
manner in which it is to be done, should be criti- 
cized most severely, but the instinct to work in this 
direction, should receive no comment, however 
lowly the one who aspires, or ambitious to express. 

The instinct for expression seems to be the 
culminating point to which all experience tends. 
This instinct is often most crude, and needs every- 
thing in the way of training and guiding, and self- 
control ; but never repression. The manner of ex- 
pression may also be very crude and uninteresting, 



332 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

as the child's many efforts are interesting only to 
those related ; but the right to express cannot be 
ignored for this reason alone. 

It cannot be stated too often, that one of the high- 
est missions of Art is to refine the human Soul from 
all clumsiness and awkwardness in every action, 
of which Soul may be capable. This refining 
away of awkwardness is not accomplished through 
listening and looking alone ; great as is the advan- 
tage of this exercise of the sensory nerves. It is a 
most serious matter, then, to deprive any class of 
this needed development, through some strange idea 
that Art is only for the benefit of the genius or 
artist. 

THE INSTINCT TO SHUT OUT FROM THIS EXERCISE 

And yet, one can hear on all hands, such expres- 
sions as the following : " Will your conscience allow 
you to give musical training to a child who will 
never attain anything like artistic success ? " If it 
were not that teachers must make a living, this in- 
stinct to shut out, which prevails in every line of 
life, would have no check. 

The ones who have the least capacity are the ones 
who need the training the most. But this fact can- 
not be recognized, until one also realizes that the 
presence of audience or spectators is the least of all 
the motives for devotion to Art. Not that the 
disposition to seek an audience is to be criticized 
in the slightest ; but that common courtesy re- 
quires that other motives should be as free from 
criticism. Not until it is recognized by all, that the 



THE AKTS 333 

use of pencil, brush, chisel, for the simple purpose 
of self-development, is as dignified a motive as any 
other, will humanity dare to begin the training 
upon the motor side of the arts, that is to-day es- 
sential for all, as exercise for the Ego. 

The effect of the ideas to be expressed by the arts 
will of course not appear in this connection, as the 
class of exercises presented here, deals with that 
gained through physical nerves alone. For the 
same reason the effect of literature cannot be taken 
up here, since it cannot be asserted that one dis- 
cerns the human Soul, or the ideas and truths with 
which literature deals, by means of these physical 
nerves. 

It is evident indeed that in the study of litera- 
ture, the physical nerves are receiving no exercise, 
the mere use of the optic nerves in reading having 
no real relation to this study. The ideas and the 
Soul being discerned by some finer means, the exer- 
cise for this purpose will not be of the same class as 
that for discerning material entities. And yet, 
without doubt the Ego needs long training by these 
material means, before it is able even to perceive 
much less appreciate, the ethereal objects with which 
literature deals. 



CHAPTER XXXIY 

EXERCISE FOR SOUL THROUGH ATHLETICS 

The development of the Ego must consist in 
bringing out every species of capacity which it pos- 
sesses. Every specialty of every kind to which hu- 
manity is devoting its attention reveals a capacity 
to be cultivated upon either the sensory or motor 
side ; one that lies latent in every Soul at some time 
in its existence. 

I have tried to show how the Ego's perceptive 
powers and its strength or will are cultivated through 
work and the arts. It must be evident then, that 
in these directions, athletics can contribute an exer- 
cise impossible to these other two. The character 
of the commands the Ego is giving in the perform- 
ance of any athletic feat must differ materially 
from those in any other act. If then we have four 
hundred muscles, that means four hundred adroit 
contrivances, both to tempt the Ego to the most 
varied use and exercise of its strength and skill ; and 
also to increase these indefinitely. 

I tried to demonstrate in the chapters on Force 
that this strength of the Ego was a most complex 
affair, depending upon the variety of the commands 
issued, as well as upon exercise. Physical strength, 
for instance, is a unit, but the objects upon which it 
expends itself are without number, and every nerve 

334 



EXEKCISE FOR SOUL 335 

and muscle used, means a different act of the will. 
One may be possessed of great physical strength 
then, and yet be very weak in some detail. One 
may have the ability to lift great weights and be 
unable to exert a fraction of the strength required 
of the fingers in a musical performance. 

This means that certain muscles have had no 
training ; but it means, also, that there are certain 
commands which the Ego has never given and that 
it lacks some grace or strength in consequence. We 
have no camera with which to photograph these 
defects of the Soul, but the physical body is reveal- 
ing some of them incessantly, whenever an unac- 
customed attitude must be taken. 

We are so used to clumsy, incapable bodies, that 
fail whenever an unaccustomed demand is made, 
that they are taken as a matter of course. These 
will never get their deserved criticism, until it is 
recognized that it is the Soul, not the muscles and 
nerves, that is at fault. 

COMPARISON OF TRAINING IN ATHLETICS AND 

MUSIC 

In the execution of many athletic feats, the nec- 
essary precision and swiftness in willing, is the same 
as that called for in musical performances ; but 
there are many muscles and nerves called into 
play that are not used in the last case. Consider 
the one instance of a very difficult trapeze per- 
formance, which is most marvelous, when com- 
pared with the average lack of control of any but a 
few muscles. In gauging the exact moment to 



336 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

swing out, let go the bar and be caught by the 
hands of the other performer, a supreme moment is 
reached each time. A wonderful quickness of sight, 
will-power and judgment are being revealed, and 
two of these at least are characteristics of the Soul. 
The most elaborate system of education, and the 
most constant exercise of faith, as the word is trans- 
lated, might fail to do as much towards perfecting 
these necessary characteristics in the Ego. The 
courage which is being cultivated is also a quality 
of the Ego, and suggests something of the difference 
that must exist between such a Soul, and one that 
shrinks with debasing dread from any unusual ef- 
fort. These conditions, then, must indicate that the 
strength and will-power of the Soul are being culti- 
vated in this way; and strength and will-power 
must be qualities which Soul will need in a disem- 
bodied state as well as while in this life. 

There is a third advantage in such intense mo- 
ments as a trapeze performance makes possible, 
which not even music can give to this extent. That 
is, its effect upon the awakening of the subcon- 
sciousness. At the supreme moments in such feats, 
the Ego must be intensely alive, at a white heat of 
vitality indeed, and as in the act of drowning before 
spoken of, the latent self comes that much nearer 
being awakened for the moment. Now this life 
within the body seems to be furnished to the Soul 
for this express purpose of awakening it out of the 
unconscious state that it is in when born into this 
world. One cannot even ' ' be good " until sufficiently 
wide-awake to realize that numberless traits, un- 



EXERCISE FOR SOUL 337 

known to us, must be included in a divine Being's 
ideal of goodness. 

THE INTEREST IN ATHLETICS 

Whatever assists even temporarily then in creat- 
ing this vitality, has its value. The trapeze per- 
formance is an extreme instance ; but athletics of 
all kinds possess this one characteristic of increasing 
the vitality. This accounts for the enthusiastic 
interest created in the cramped Soul, struggling for 
the freedom that is its right, and that is only to be 
gained through action. 

The fact that this institution can arouse such 
enthusiastic interest where all others fail, proves its 
value as a means of both development and reform. 
The objectionable features of any class of athletics 
are not an argument against the class itself. 
Objectionable features are to be rigorously criti- 
cized and weeded out. This should be done, indeed, 
for the sake of the institution itself, because all 
the objectionable, brutal elements mean weakness 
or cowardice, or lack of self-control, and are not 
scientific, not true sport. 

Conan Doyle has stopped short of the truth then 
when he says, "... and when it " (the love of 
sport) " has been educated out, a higher, more re- 
fined nature will be left." But the love of sport 
never can be weeded out, and never should be. 
Instead, its inherent value should be recognized and 
the institution cleared of all objectionable character- 
istics. 



338 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

COMPARISON OF INTEREST IN SPORT AND IN 

LITERATURE 

This institution, with all its brutality, has a better 
root than much that passes for art and literature. 
Sport may deface the human form, it is true ; but 
an impure book or picture defaces its higher proto- 
type, the human Soul : and too often without criti- 
cism from those who have the most authority in 
defining Literature. 

The work of art or literature over which many 
rave, may be mainly an appeal to the passions, 
which is the lowest instinct of which the race is 
guilty. The instinct for sport cannot sink to this 
depth, because, even at its very lowest, sport repre- 
sents some effort or some grade of endurance which 
the Ego is exerting. An interest in what the Soul 
can do is a clean instinct despite the defaced body. 
Impurity is the only real uncleanness. Unfortu- 
nately, humanity can see the defaced body and can- 
not see the defacement of the Soul. (It is in this 
blind way, that too many human standards are 
created.) 

Where there is so little interest as exists to-day 
in what the Soul can accomplish, we cannot afford 
to give up any institution which arouses it. Natures 
too undeveloped to be reached in any other way can 
be aroused to a white heat of interest if not of 
emulation by witnessing daring feats of any de- 
scription, and intense interest is the basic necessity 
in development or reform. Still again, a half asleep 
Soul cannot be " good." 

There are other reasons why an interest in high 



EXERCISE FOR SOUL 339 

grade performances in athletics of every description 
should be encouraged. At such exhibitions for in- 
stance, one sees the control of mind over matter 
exemplified, and is being taught that what the Ego 
can accomplish with its body, it is probably meant 
to accomplish. A Divinity "Who created every- 
thing" must also have created this means for re- 
vealing the capacities of the Ego, in controlling the 
material entities of the universe. 

One sees also how fearfully the race has retro- 
graded from the primitive days, when strength and 
agility were the rule, not the exception. Of the 
many muscles in the human body, the majority of 
people use only a small fraction. This is demon- 
strated by recalling the various uses to which 
muscle can be put in these three institutions of work 
art and athletics. ' 

THE VITALITY OF THE EGO 

The unexercised muscles gradually diminish the 
vitality of the Ego, with which it came into the 
world, and lack of vitality is the main cause of de- 
generation, mental, moral and physical. Vitality 
of the Ego, that is, not of the body. There is a 
difference. The first means the capacity to be 
interested in many directions-and to recognize the 
need for interest even where one cannot give the 
thought. This is compatible with a very poor 

But the body itself, though strong and well, will 
fail if shut out from this breadth of interest-^,, 
the boul ^s not highly developed. An animal, that 



340 A PKACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

is, can be extremely alive with no interest but its 
dinner, the chase and its friendships. But it is true 
that the farther one has developed beyond the 
animal stage the more necessary it is, for many 
reasons, that the interests should be extended in 
many directions. A limited range of interest is the 
cause of many phases of illness. 

Athletic exercise of every description, for man 
and woman alike, is one of these directions. The 
value of these exercises is beginning to be recognized 
more and more ; but if the purpose of development 
of the Ego is kept firmly in mind, there will be less 
chance of being distracted by fads, or growing 
weary of the necessary persistence. This treat- 
ment of the meaning of Soul, is a perfectly logical 
result of considering it a " finer body." 



CHAPTER XXXY 

FURTHER COMPARISON WITH BOOK EDUCATION 

The right of work, the mechanical part of the 
arts and athletics to be considered as a means for 
developing the Soul may be revealed by comparing 
their effects still further with many that are coming 
from the book education. Certain serious defects 
are permitted in the latter, that would be impossi- 
ble in development through exercise of the Ego. 
For instance, during the book education, the Soul 
cannot be seen while at its work. Only the teacher 
with the greatest intuition and discrimination can 
know then whether the scholar is doing the work 
required, or doing it in the right way. Many 
defects 'being cultivated in the Soul, are hidden 
from sight, if one only has a good memory. Put a 
child at work on a book, and the Ego may be half 
asleep or its methods may be most slovenly and in- 
exact ; yet many a teacher will be unable to recog- 
nize, much less correct such defects. This inability 
to see and correct such unfortunate defects must 
exist where the teacher does not recognize that it 
is the Soul that is being dealt with. 

In a manual training education, athletics and the 
Arts, on the contrary, every act of the student 
stands out in full view subject to both the teachers' 
and his own criticism. The untrue lines, the cor- 

341 



342 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

ners askew, the awkwardness, the slovenly details 
of execution, are evident to all, and he has the in- 
centive to do better both from the criticism of his 
peers and his ambition to equal them. 

All these defects can be present in mental work, 
and no one the wiser, if again the scholar only has 
a good memory. The habit of separating the mind 
and Soul, has shut out the fact, that it is the Soul 
which is doing the slovenly work, and that it is 
preparing later for numberless obscure conditions 
which no one can account for. The strength of a 
chain is the strength of its weakest link. 

Again, in a piece of very complex work, one can- 
not see into the child's mind to discover if it is 
getting exactly the right impression. In various 
ways, his mind may be forming habits of thought 
that later on may tangle him up beyond retrieval. 
In the rushing, crowding system of to-day, there is 
little chance for even the teacher with intuition to 
be looking out for the effects upon the Soul of many 
such mistaken results. 

One most deplorable habit may be forming in the 
book education without any one being the wiser. 
A studious attitude does not mean application and 
a child's mind may be wandering a great part of its 
time without betraying the fact even to itself. 
This lack of concentration, is one of the worst of 
mental failings to-day. The ability was cultivated 
to a magnificent extent in the primitive days of the 
race ; but the book education, taken before the stu- 
dent is ready for it, is dissipating the characteristic 
to an unfortunate degree. 



COMPARISON WITH BOOK EDUCATION 343 

In the very act of taking an education then one 
may be cultivating a host of pernicious habits with- 
out revealing the fact to any but the most pene- 
trating eyes. Any one who is interested only in 
results and does not care how they are brought 
about, will not have a penetrating eye. 

CEAMMING 

One of the saddest conditions which may exist 
unnoticed in taking the book education is that it is 
not possible to see into the child's mind and dis- 
cover whether the work it is being required to do is 
too heavy for it. Some of the best minds work 
slowly. Some minds are so constituted that they 
cannot skim, must go to the roots of things even 
when young. School courses are not always 
planned for such minds. Or the child may be sim- 
ply slow, through no fault of its own, yet disposed 
to do the work planned. In many schools, children 
for various such reasons are staggering under loads 
too heavy for them or perhaps even impossible to 
be carried. If these manage to pull through, it is 
at the expense not only of physical health, but of a 
condition of Soul that is most distressing. A habit 
of nervous dread of failure may be formed that will 
increase the chance of breaking down, every time 
an obstacle has to be met in life. Any demand for 
unusual strength will create something in the na- 
ture of a panic, but no one will associate the condi- 
tion with habits of mind formed at school. 

On the other hand, if the scholar does not get 
through, he has been deliberately taught the habit 



344: A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

of failing and discouragement, which will follow 
him through life, and cause him often to give up 
long before every effort has been made that was 
possible. It is a criminal act to set for a child a 
task it cannot perform. JSTo habit of Soul is so 
terrible as that of discouragement. The most elab- 
orate of educations cannot atone for the formation 
of this habit. But often, the only return is a mass 
of undigested, unrelated knowledge that can have 
no effect in cultivating any capacity in the Soul. 
JSTo accumulation of this kind, will take the place 
of the child's will-power, courage, perseverance, and 
its keen perceptions and ability to be interested. 

In manual training if a child is really unable to 
do the work, it is easy to realize the fact ; but when 
a student does not advance in book education, how 
seldom is the blame laid upon any one but the 
scholar. Often the cause is due to this one fact 
that the child has not had the necessary foundation 
established, before the book education was begun. 
As stated certain habits of mind are necessary, if 
one is to profit by books, and these were not created 
first by books. They can be handed down for a 
certain number of generations, but if not renewed 
by association with manual labor of some kind, the 
supply presently dies out. 

In hundreds of schools to-day, the most essential 
characteristics of the Soul are being constantly 
sapped by teachers who know less of the laws gov- 
erning the development of the Ego, than the car- 
penter in a gymnasium knows of the bones and 
muscles of the physical frames, to be strengthened 



COMPAKISON WITH BOOK EDUCATION 345 

within its walls. The blame does not lie with these 
teachers, who are simply following the examples set 
for them ; it lies with those high in authority who 
establish the systems; but this is why, each year, 
the institution of education leaves behind such 
hosts of scholars, who seem unable to profit by its 
means. 

The Soul's highest development, consists in its 
ability to discern clearly in every direction, and to 
accomplish ; never in its ability to absorb. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 

RESULTS FROM EXERCISE OF THE SOUL 

The effect upon the Soul of the many classes of 
exercise given may be seen on the one hand in the 
clearer reasoning powers, the better judgment, the 
finer appreciations and the quick and broad sym- 
pathies with all that deserves sympathy. A more 
extended range of emotions will also exist, instead 
of the limitations, in this direction, of the animal. 

On the other hand, the facility gained to the Soul 
in controlling the actions of the muscles in the di- 
rections possible, must affect its ability to control 
itself and the ethereal conditions so constantly in- 
terfering with one's efforts. 

But, as stated, this last effect depends so much 
upon the incentives furnished through the senses. 
The race is prone to inertia, and must be kept 
prodded into action through a multitude of means. 
This inertia is really growing instead of diminish- 
ing with advancing civilization. Not that man 
works less ; circumstances do not permit that ; but 
he wants to do so — to rest, rest, eternally even. 
And yet, it is not rest that is wanted, even always 
for the workers, but a change from the deadly 
monotony of living in a rut. It is not the capaci- 
ties of the Ego which are kept at work that cause 
the sense of fatigue half as often as it is the capaci- 

346 



EESULTS FllOM EXEKCISE OF SOUL 347 

ties which never get any exercise. These are 
cramped, like a chrysalis, in an unbreakable shell of 
habits and are begging for action. 

Left alone, the Ego will often not have the will- 
power to break up this monotony, even when it is 
possible ; but let the sensory nerves be aroused to 
action and resolution will follow of itself. The phy- 
sician is telling this when he suggests a " change." 

THE MEANING OF A "CHANGE" 

A change means that some new message through 
the senses is to come to the Ego. No matter how 
unimportant this message may be, it sets up a new 
line of action and thought in some direction. A 
time will come when this need will be more clearly 
understood ; when it will embrace a change from 
inaction to action, instead of always to rest, as now ; 
when change will mean something far more com- 
plex than going from one place to another ; when 
it will be found that a more sweeping change can 
be wrought in the privacy of one's room than is 
often possible in a trip round the globe with sen- 
sory nerves which have had no training. 

PESSIMISM 

The Soul is made up of an infinitude of possibili- 
ties, each of which is intended to be developed, in 
every one. This development should bring into 
every life something of the glory of living; but 
meantime, the race fancies it has discovered that its 
doll is filled with sawdust and has lost the spirit 
even to cry or fight over the seeming fact. Perhaps 



348 A PEACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL 

this is due somewhat to the persistent belief that 
life is given in order that the race may be happy. 
But happiness will never come to stay, while this is 
believed. It may come if life is regarded as an op- 
portunity to conquer the weakness and ignorance 
which interferes with happiness. This view will 
appear most reasonable, if it is remembered how 
much life furnishes to each ? and how little of a re- 
turn each makes though contributing a yearly 
quota of mistakes, illogical opinions and failures. 

Instead of seeking happiness and bewailing lost 
ideals, the race needs to begin to climb the heights, 
fearlessly and persistently, and with some imagina- 
tion as to what it means to be a human Soul. To 
reach the heights of capacity and appreciation — 
even to comprehend them, would mean the death of 
the pessimistic attitude. 

Often this is due to weakness alone, though there 
are other causes. Sometimes it is due to cramped 
powers, which are capable of assuming a degree of 
responsibility that would add a zest to life, but 
from which many are shut out and doomed to a 
treadmill. But the Soul does not need to remain in 
the treadmill because the body must, if it will only 
become conscious of its capacities in every direction 
and see to it that its vitality is being constantly in- 
creased. 

One who climbs the heights sees life with con- 
stantly increasing clearness. Its meanings and re- 
lations develop day by day as the scenery grows out 
of the morning mist. One sees the dangers more 
clearly also, and even the tragedies which cannot 



EESULTS FROM EXERCISE OF SOUL 349 

be averted; but one sees, also, ways to modify if 
not avert ; and it is better to endure what this means, 
than to live in ignorance until the tragedy cannot 
be even modified. 

There are degrees of this intense vitality, natu- 
rally. Some cannot attain to the ability to discern 
and will as others can ; but all can try, and it is the 
trying that counts. This is the instinct of the Soul 
when it first enters this life, but each year thou- 
sands are caught back and safely bound by necessi- 
ties, fears, habits or conventionality — some of the 
thousand finite conceptions of the meaning of life 
and right, all of which have the family trait of 
shutting out some innocent direction in which the 
Soul is meant to grow. Here and there, Souls es- 
cape from this bondage and explore the wind-blown 
heights and the sombre depths of life with a cour- 
age that should to-day be the birthright of every 
human being. The origin of this courage may be 
unknown to the possessor ; but it is due to a high- 
bred control of such powers as are already under- 
stood, and some dawning comprehension of the 
meaning of Soul. 

Wake up, then, poor, defrauded Souls, wherever 
you have been taught that one needs to be a slave 
to either weakness or ignorance. It is true that the 
Ego cannot perform the impossibilities that are be- 
ing declared possible ; but between these illogically 
promised powers, and the almost trivial ones exer- 
cised by the great majority, there lies a mighty 
stretch of ground to be patiently traveled over by 
every one. And in the traveling, while seeking 



350 A PRACTICAL STUDY OF THE SOUL I 

i 4= fu "RW* birthright, the mountains of 
hourly for the Ego s biitm ^g , 
difficulty which now appal, will be siowiy u 
shrinking into mole-hills. 



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